Naata Nungurrayi
Also know as: Ngata
BIOGRAPHY
Naata Nungurrayi was born at Kumilnga, west of the Pollock Hills in the Western Desert of Western Australia. Around 1963, when she was approximately thirty years old, she encountered a government welfare patrol and was relocated with her family to the settlement of Papunya the following year. Like many Pintupi people who were moved from their desert homelands during this period, the memory of Country and life in the desert remained central to her identity and later became the enduring source of inspiration for her paintings.
During the late 1970s Naata moved with relatives to Docker River before settling in the Kintore region in the early 1980s. She began painting with Papunya Tula Artists in 1996 after being encouraged by art coordinator Marina Strocchi at Haasts Bluff, who immediately recognised the strength of her distinctive style. Her work was first included in Papunya Tula group exhibitions in 1997, including presentations during Desert Mob in Alice Springs and exhibitions at Chapman Gallery in Canberra.
Naata’s paintings combine elements of the carefully structured geometric style developed by the Pintupi men at Papunya with the more painterly and expressive approaches introduced by women artists during the painting camps of the early 1990s. She was included in important exhibitions such as Twenty Five Years and Beyond at Flinders University Art Museum and Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2000.
Having been initiated into Women’s Law, Naata held the authority to depict women’s sites, journeys and ceremonial activities. Many of her paintings refer to ancestral Tingari women who travelled across the desert landscape, creating sites and teaching cultural knowledge. The designs painted on women’s bodies during ceremony are translated into the surface of her paintings, producing rhythmic patterns that echo the movement and energy of performance.
Her compositions frequently incorporate references to waterholes, gathering places and food sources encountered along these journeys. Characteristic motifs include scalloped forms representing women’s sites, clusters of circular elements and bands of linear patterning arranged across expansive pictorial fields. Naata often favoured soft ochre palettes that give her paintings a calm and spacious quality, though she was also capable of working in more vivid colour when she chose.
Like many women painters from the region, Naata applied paint thickly, creating textured surfaces that suggest a physical connection to the land itself. Her paintings move between bold gestural compositions and more structured arrangements of grid-like patterning, always maintaining a strong sense of balance and rhythm.
Naata Nungurrayi was the sister of the highly regarded artists George Tjungurrayi and Nancy Nungurrayi, and the mother of Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa. In later years she worked primarily with galleries in Alice Springs while maintaining strong ties to her family and Country in the Western Desert.
Although her paintings have travelled widely and are held in important collections, Naata remained deeply connected to her homeland and community. Her works are admired for their quiet authority, subtle colour and refined composition, and she is now regarded as one of the most significant women painters to emerge from the Papunya Tula movement.
During the late 1970s Naata moved with relatives to Docker River before settling in the Kintore region in the early 1980s. She began painting with Papunya Tula Artists in 1996 after being encouraged by art coordinator Marina Strocchi at Haasts Bluff, who immediately recognised the strength of her distinctive style. Her work was first included in Papunya Tula group exhibitions in 1997, including presentations during Desert Mob in Alice Springs and exhibitions at Chapman Gallery in Canberra.
Naata’s paintings combine elements of the carefully structured geometric style developed by the Pintupi men at Papunya with the more painterly and expressive approaches introduced by women artists during the painting camps of the early 1990s. She was included in important exhibitions such as Twenty Five Years and Beyond at Flinders University Art Museum and Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2000.
Having been initiated into Women’s Law, Naata held the authority to depict women’s sites, journeys and ceremonial activities. Many of her paintings refer to ancestral Tingari women who travelled across the desert landscape, creating sites and teaching cultural knowledge. The designs painted on women’s bodies during ceremony are translated into the surface of her paintings, producing rhythmic patterns that echo the movement and energy of performance.
Her compositions frequently incorporate references to waterholes, gathering places and food sources encountered along these journeys. Characteristic motifs include scalloped forms representing women’s sites, clusters of circular elements and bands of linear patterning arranged across expansive pictorial fields. Naata often favoured soft ochre palettes that give her paintings a calm and spacious quality, though she was also capable of working in more vivid colour when she chose.
Like many women painters from the region, Naata applied paint thickly, creating textured surfaces that suggest a physical connection to the land itself. Her paintings move between bold gestural compositions and more structured arrangements of grid-like patterning, always maintaining a strong sense of balance and rhythm.
Naata Nungurrayi was the sister of the highly regarded artists George Tjungurrayi and Nancy Nungurrayi, and the mother of Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa. In later years she worked primarily with galleries in Alice Springs while maintaining strong ties to her family and Country in the Western Desert.
Although her paintings have travelled widely and are held in important collections, Naata remained deeply connected to her homeland and community. Her works are admired for their quiet authority, subtle colour and refined composition, and she is now regarded as one of the most significant women painters to emerge from the Papunya Tula movement.
Awards
2008 - Ian Mclean: Publication: Naata Nungurrayi; Muni (Rita) Simpson; Spinifex Artists Group; Patrick Tjungurrayi. Perth, W.A.: Art Gallery of Western Australia
2008 - Western Australian Art Award, Perth - Finalist
2008 - 25th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2007 - TogArt Contemporary Art Award, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin - Finalist
2007 - 24th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2006 - 23rd NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2005 - 22nd NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2004 - Top 50 Collectable Artists, Australian Art Collector Magazine
2003 - Australia Post International Stamp
2003 - 20th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2002 – Highly Commended, NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
2001 - 18th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2000 - 17th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2008 - Western Australian Art Award, Perth - Finalist
2008 - 25th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2007 - TogArt Contemporary Art Award, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin - Finalist
2007 - 24th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2006 - 23rd NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2005 - 22nd NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2004 - Top 50 Collectable Artists, Australian Art Collector Magazine
2003 - Australia Post International Stamp
2003 - 20th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2002 – Highly Commended, NATSIAA, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
2001 - 18th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
2000 - 17th NATSIAA, Darwin - Finalist
Exhibitions
2011 – Naata Nungurrayi, Papunya Tula Artists Gallery, Alice Springs
Group Exhibitions
2026 - Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past and Present Together): Fifty Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Grey Art Museum, New York University, New York, USA
2025 - Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past and Present Together): Fifty Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT, USA
2025 - Frieze Masters | Makinti Napanangka + Naata Nungurrayi, D'Lan Contemporary, London, UK
2025 - Ties That Bind: Family Matters, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2025 - Women of the Western Desert: Walungurru and Kiwirrkurra, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2025 - Eternal Signs: Indigenous Australian Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV, USA
2025 - Great Affinities, L'Appartement Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
2024 - A Lasting Imprint | No Art on a Dead Planet, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2024 - Ladies from Papunya, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2023 - Eminence, D’Lan Contemporary, New York, NY, USA
2022 - Australian Indigenous Art from the SmithDavidson Collection, SmithDavidson Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2022 - Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu: Past & Present Together – 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists (Part 2), Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
2021 - Gillian and Watson McAllister Collection, Cooee Art, Bondi, NSW, Australia
2021 - Reverence, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2021 - Private Collection | Private View: One Collector's Passion & Soul, Cooee Art, Redfern, NSW, Australia
2021 - 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2021 - Country in Mind, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia
2021 - Papunya Tula: 50 Years 1971–2021, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2021 - Papunya 50 Years, 1971–2021, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020 - Reflections on Emily and Papunya, High Line Nine Galleries, New York, NY, USA
2020 - Pintupi Masters – Enduring Dreamings, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2020 - Papunya, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2020 - ORIGINS: Australian Aboriginal Art from the SmithDavidson Collection, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019 - Beyond Time: Australian Aboriginal Art, Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2019 - Desert Painters of Australia, Larry Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2019 - International Women's Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Defining Tradition: The First Wave & Its Disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Spring Collection Exhibition, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Significant, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2018 - East Meets West, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018 - 20/20 Vision: 20 Years 20 Women, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2018 - Into Abstraction: Exploring the Diversity of Abstraction from the 1960s to the Present, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2018 - Significant, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2017 - Gems of the Stockroom, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2016 - Cooee Art at Australian Galleries, Australian Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2012 - Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2012 - unDISCLOSED: 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2012 - Classic Works from Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2011 - Papunya Tula Women’s Art, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, NSW, Australia
2011 - Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award (Finalists Exhibition), Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2011 - 40 Years of Papunya Tula Art, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2010 - Wilkinkarralakutu: Journeys to Lake Mackay, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2010 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2010 - Significant Women Artists from the Western Desert, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2010 - Papunya Tula Artists Now, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2010 - Ngurra Kutju Ngurrara – Belonging to One Country, Red Dot Gallery, Singapore
2010 - Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2010 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia
2009 - Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
2009 - Tjukurrpa Palulukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya – Same Stories, A New Way, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2009 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2009 - Nganana Tjungurrayi Tjukurrpa Nintintjkitja: We Are Sharing Our Dreaming, East Galleries, New York, NY, USA
2009 - Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2009 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia
2009 - 20 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2008 - The Other Thing: A Survey Show, Charles Darwin University Art Collection, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Papunya Tula Artists 2008, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2008 - Ngurra Yurru Kulintjaku – Always Remembering Country, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Marrangku Yara Polyantjaku Ngurrangka – Making Strong Paintings at Home, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2008 - Desert Prophets, Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia
2008 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (25th NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - TogArt Contemporary Art Award, Parliament House, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - Papunya Tula Artists – Recent Paintings 2007, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - Papunya Tula Artists 2007, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2007 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (24th NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2006 - Papunya Tula Artists – Recent Paintings 2006, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2006 - PTA – Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2006 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (23rd NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2005 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists – New Work for a New Space, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2005 - Chefs d'Oeuvre – Maîtres du Désert, Galerie DAD, Mantes-la-Jolie, France
2005 - Repetition, Fire-Works Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2005 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (22nd NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2004 - Papunya Tula Artists 2004, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2004 - Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2004 - Ma Yungu – Pass It On, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2004 - All About Papunya, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2003 - Recent Paintings by the Women Artists of Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2003 - Pintupi Art 2003, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2003 - A Way Through: The Sue and Ian Bernadt Collection – Aboriginal Paintings by Women Artists, Central TAFE Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia
2002 - Saluting Papunya, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2002 - Pintupi Men’s and Women’s Stories, Indigenart, Subiaco, WA, Australia
2002 - Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2002 - Paintings from Our Country, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2002 - Next Generation – Aboriginal Art 2002, Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2002 - Art Born of the Western Desert, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2002 - 19th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2001 - Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal Art, Comunidad de Madrid Touring Exhibition, Spain
2001 - Pintupi Exhibition, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2001 - Papunya Tula 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2001 - Palm Beach Art Fair, Palm Beach, FL, USA
2001 - Museum, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2001 - Art of the Pintupi, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2001 - Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2001 - Aboriginal Art 2001, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2001 - 18th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2001 - Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2000 - Pintupi Women, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2000 - Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2000 - Lines, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2000 - Aboriginal Art 2000, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2000 - 17th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
1999 - Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
1999 - Twenty-Five Years and Beyond, Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park, SA, Australia
1999 - New Horizons, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
1999 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
1997 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2025 - Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past and Present Together): Fifty Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT, USA
2025 - Frieze Masters | Makinti Napanangka + Naata Nungurrayi, D'Lan Contemporary, London, UK
2025 - Ties That Bind: Family Matters, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2025 - Women of the Western Desert: Walungurru and Kiwirrkurra, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2025 - Eternal Signs: Indigenous Australian Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV, USA
2025 - Great Affinities, L'Appartement Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
2024 - A Lasting Imprint | No Art on a Dead Planet, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2024 - Ladies from Papunya, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2023 - Eminence, D’Lan Contemporary, New York, NY, USA
2022 - Australian Indigenous Art from the SmithDavidson Collection, SmithDavidson Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2022 - Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu: Past & Present Together – 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists (Part 2), Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
2021 - Gillian and Watson McAllister Collection, Cooee Art, Bondi, NSW, Australia
2021 - Reverence, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2021 - Private Collection | Private View: One Collector's Passion & Soul, Cooee Art, Redfern, NSW, Australia
2021 - 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2021 - Country in Mind, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia
2021 - Papunya Tula: 50 Years 1971–2021, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2021 - Papunya 50 Years, 1971–2021, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020 - Reflections on Emily and Papunya, High Line Nine Galleries, New York, NY, USA
2020 - Pintupi Masters – Enduring Dreamings, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2020 - Papunya, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2020 - ORIGINS: Australian Aboriginal Art from the SmithDavidson Collection, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019 - Beyond Time: Australian Aboriginal Art, Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2019 - Desert Painters of Australia, Larry Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2019 - International Women's Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Defining Tradition: The First Wave & Its Disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Spring Collection Exhibition, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2019 - Significant, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2018 - East Meets West, SmithDavidson Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018 - 20/20 Vision: 20 Years 20 Women, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2018 - Into Abstraction: Exploring the Diversity of Abstraction from the 1960s to the Present, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2018 - Significant, D'Lan Contemporary, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2017 - Gems of the Stockroom, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2016 - Cooee Art at Australian Galleries, Australian Galleries, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2012 - Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2012 - unDISCLOSED: 2nd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2012 - Classic Works from Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2011 - Papunya Tula Women’s Art, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, NSW, Australia
2011 - Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award (Finalists Exhibition), Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA, Australia
2011 - 40 Years of Papunya Tula Art, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2010 - Wilkinkarralakutu: Journeys to Lake Mackay, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2010 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2010 - Significant Women Artists from the Western Desert, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2010 - Papunya Tula Artists Now, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2010 - Ngurra Kutju Ngurrara – Belonging to One Country, Red Dot Gallery, Singapore
2010 - Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2010 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia
2009 - Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
2009 - Tjukurrpa Palulukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya – Same Stories, A New Way, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2009 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2009 - Nganana Tjungurrayi Tjukurrpa Nintintjkitja: We Are Sharing Our Dreaming, East Galleries, New York, NY, USA
2009 - Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2009 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia
2009 - 20 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2008 - The Other Thing: A Survey Show, Charles Darwin University Art Collection, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Papunya Tula Artists 2008, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2008 - Ngurra Yurru Kulintjaku – Always Remembering Country, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Marrangku Yara Polyantjaku Ngurrangka – Making Strong Paintings at Home, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2008 - Desert Prophets, Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia
2008 - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia
2008 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (25th NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - TogArt Contemporary Art Award, Parliament House, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - Papunya Tula Artists – Recent Paintings 2007, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2007 - Papunya Tula Artists 2007, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2007 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (24th NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2006 - Papunya Tula Artists – Recent Paintings 2006, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT, Australia
2006 - PTA – Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2006 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (23rd NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2005 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2005 - Papunya Tula Artists – New Work for a New Space, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2005 - Chefs d'Oeuvre – Maîtres du Désert, Galerie DAD, Mantes-la-Jolie, France
2005 - Repetition, Fire-Works Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2005 - Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (22nd NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2004 - Papunya Tula Artists 2004, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2004 - Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2004 - Ma Yungu – Pass It On, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2004 - All About Papunya, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2003 - Recent Paintings by the Women Artists of Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2003 - Pintupi Art 2003, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2003 - A Way Through: The Sue and Ian Bernadt Collection – Aboriginal Paintings by Women Artists, Central TAFE Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia
2002 - Saluting Papunya, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2002 - Pintupi Men’s and Women’s Stories, Indigenart, Subiaco, WA, Australia
2002 - Pintupi Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2002 - Paintings from Our Country, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2002 - Next Generation – Aboriginal Art 2002, Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2002 - Art Born of the Western Desert, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia
2002 - 19th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA), Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2001 - Spirituality and Australian Aboriginal Art, Comunidad de Madrid Touring Exhibition, Spain
2001 - Pintupi Exhibition, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2001 - Papunya Tula 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2001 - Palm Beach Art Fair, Palm Beach, FL, USA
2001 - Museum, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2001 - Art of the Pintupi, Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2001 - Art House Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2001 - Aboriginal Art 2001, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2001 - 18th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
2001 - Kintore and Kiwirrkurra, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2000 - Pintupi Women, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
2000 - Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2000 - Lines, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2000 - Aboriginal Art 2000, Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2000 - 17th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
1999 - Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia
1999 - Twenty-Five Years and Beyond, Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park, SA, Australia
1999 - New Horizons, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
1999 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
1997 - Desert Mob Art Show, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra, ACT, Australia
Artbank, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht (Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen), Utrecht, Netherlands
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
Griffith University Art Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Helen Read Collection, Australia
Harland Collection, Ireland
Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
The Luczo Family Collection, USA
University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA
Steve Martin & Anne Stringfield Collections, USA
Kluge-Ruhe Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
University of the Sunshine Coast Collection, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy
Gillian & Watson McAllister Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Pat Corrigan Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Jacqui McPhee Collection, Perth, WA, Australia
Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers, Switzerland
SmithDavidson Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands / Miami, FL, USA
Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, Muswellbrook, NSW, Australia
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV, USA
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Australia
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra, ACT, Australia
Artbank, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht (Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen), Utrecht, Netherlands
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
Griffith University Art Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Helen Read Collection, Australia
Harland Collection, Ireland
Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
The Luczo Family Collection, USA
University of Technology Sydney Art Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA
Steve Martin & Anne Stringfield Collections, USA
Kluge-Ruhe Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
University of the Sunshine Coast Collection, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy
Gillian & Watson McAllister Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Pat Corrigan Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Jacqui McPhee Collection, Perth, WA, Australia
Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers, Switzerland
SmithDavidson Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands / Miami, FL, USA
Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, Muswellbrook, NSW, Australia
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV, USA
Market Analysis
Despite never having had a major monograph published or a dedicated solo exhibition during much of her career, Naata Nungurrayi achieved remarkable success on the secondary market. By 2007 her auction results were already strong, with total sales approaching $500,000 and an average price of around $10,900. Her market accelerated rapidly in the years that followed. By 2008 total auction sales had surpassed $1 million, placing her among a small group of Aboriginal artists to reach this milestone.
A defining moment occurred in 2007 when Soakage Water Site of Unkunya (2005), a large painting created for Papunya Tula Artists, sold at Sotheby's for $216,000 against an estimate of $70,000–100,000. Measuring 183 x 153 cm, the painting depicts radiating sandhills associated with ancestral women’s journeys west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. This result established a new auction record for the artist and placed her among the most successful Aboriginal women artists of her generation.
Since that time Naata’s market has remained consistently strong. By 2016 her total auction sales had reached nearly $1.9 million and her clearance rate had risen to around 70 percent, with an average price exceeding $15,000. Although many smaller works appear regularly at auction, her most significant paintings have achieved substantially higher results, particularly those executed in her classic ochre palette and expansive desert compositions.
While a number of her strongest results have been achieved by works painted for Papunya Tula Artists, Naata also produced important paintings for independent dealers, particularly in Alice Springs. These works have sometimes been overlooked due to ongoing debates about provenance within the industry, though many are of comparable quality.
Naata rarely painted very large works, making examples above approximately 150 cm particularly desirable. Her paintings are characterised by quiet authority, subtle colour and finely balanced compositions that evoke women’s ceremonial journeys across the desert landscape.
Today Naata Nungurrayi is regarded as one of the most successful and respected women painters associated with the Papunya Tula movement. Her finest works combine cultural authority with refined aesthetic control and continue to command strong interest from collectors and institutions alike.
A defining moment occurred in 2007 when Soakage Water Site of Unkunya (2005), a large painting created for Papunya Tula Artists, sold at Sotheby's for $216,000 against an estimate of $70,000–100,000. Measuring 183 x 153 cm, the painting depicts radiating sandhills associated with ancestral women’s journeys west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. This result established a new auction record for the artist and placed her among the most successful Aboriginal women artists of her generation.
Since that time Naata’s market has remained consistently strong. By 2016 her total auction sales had reached nearly $1.9 million and her clearance rate had risen to around 70 percent, with an average price exceeding $15,000. Although many smaller works appear regularly at auction, her most significant paintings have achieved substantially higher results, particularly those executed in her classic ochre palette and expansive desert compositions.
While a number of her strongest results have been achieved by works painted for Papunya Tula Artists, Naata also produced important paintings for independent dealers, particularly in Alice Springs. These works have sometimes been overlooked due to ongoing debates about provenance within the industry, though many are of comparable quality.
Naata rarely painted very large works, making examples above approximately 150 cm particularly desirable. Her paintings are characterised by quiet authority, subtle colour and finely balanced compositions that evoke women’s ceremonial journeys across the desert landscape.
Today Naata Nungurrayi is regarded as one of the most successful and respected women painters associated with the Papunya Tula movement. Her finest works combine cultural authority with refined aesthetic control and continue to command strong interest from collectors and institutions alike.
