Sandhill (Tali) Country
George Ward Tjungurrayi is a senior Pintupi law man and paints ancestral desert narratives west of Kintore. He spends his time between Kintore, Tjukurrla and Alice Springs. George Ward Tjungurrayi's elder brother was the prominent artist, Yala Yala Gibbs and it wasn’t until his brother died in 1998 that the full weight of cultural and ceremonial authority was transferred to George Ward. His paintings became more sophisticated and with a more distinctive style.
Acrylic paint on Belgian Linen, unframed.
Size: 60" x 36" (153cm x 91cm).
Location: On display in the gallery during the aboriginal art exhibition December 2025. Refer to our exhibitions page to find out more.
Code: TGWT 801.
Frequently bought together
Sandhill (Tali) Country
The gallery is small, but it punches well above its weight. Friendly, expert and hugely knowledgeable about the artists it represents and displays, there is always something of interest, at different price levels.
The Artist
George Ward Tjungurrayi
(Also known as Wakanintja Tjungurrayi)
Born: c. 1950's
Died: 2023
Language : Pintupi
Country: Warakurna, Western Australia
George Ward was born c. 1947 near Lararra (east of Tjukurla) Western Australia.
He shared his father, Pulpalpulpalnga Tjapaltjarri, with his older brothers Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi (a founding member of the Papunya Art movement in the early 1970’s) and Willy Tjungurrayi who became one of Papunya Tula’s prominent artists.
In 1963 George, as a youth, was taken from his homeland west of Lake Macdonald to Papunya as part of Jeremy Long’s Welfare Branch patrol. There he worked as a butcher in the community kitchen and a fencer. He married Nangawarre Ward Napurrula and they had two children, Grace and Adrian. They moved to various Western Australian communities before staying for a few years from 1981 in the newly established Pintupi community of Kintore just over the Northern Territory border. There George was encouraged by the art of his brothers Yala Yala and Willy Tjungurrayi, who were two of Papunya Tula’s leading artists.
George and family moved to Kiwirrkurra, also Pintupi country, over the Western Australian border from Kintore where, in 1984, he also began painting with Papunya Tula Artists.
George painted Tingari stories of his country including Kaakuratintja (the large salt lake, of Lake Macdonald). The Tingari is when the Dreamtime Ancestors travelled across the country, creating the landscape and all above and on it. George also painted Snake and Quoll Dreamings in the Waralunga area which were part of the Tingari stories.
George became one of Papunya Tula’s leading artists and in 2004 George won the prestigious Art Gallery of NSW’s Wynn Prize.
George and Nangawarre finally settled in Warakurna, WA, where their son, Adrian, and family live.
Collections include:
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Exhibitions include:
1990 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
1993 Chapman Gallery, Canberra ACT
1995 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
1995 Groninger Museum, Groninger , Netherlands
1996 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne VIC
1998 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
1999 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
1997 Utopia Art, Sydney NSW
1997 Dreampower travelling exhibition, Gallerie Australis
2000 Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius , Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney NSW
2002 Meridian, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney NSW
2006 Luminaries of the Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2012 Heirs and Successors, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2013 Landmarks and Law Grounds: Men of the Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2015 Sixteen Artists – 16 x 2, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
