Judy Napangardi Watson Explained

Judy Napangardi Watson (–2016), also known as Judy Watson Napangardi^[1] and Kumanjayi Napangardi Watson,^[2] was an Aboriginal Australian and a senior female painter from the Yuendumu community in the Northern Territory, Australia.^[3]

Life

Judy was born around 1925^[1] at Yarungkanji on Mount Doreen Station. Her people, the Warlpiri, were living a traditional nomadic life at that time. They frequently made long journeys by foot to their ancestral country on the border of the Tanami and Gibson Deserts, and lived at Mina Mina and Yingipurlangu at different times.^[3]

She had ten children.^[3]

She died at Yuendumu on 17 May 2016.^[4]

Work

Napangardi started painting in the 1980s in a "dragged dotting" style.^[5] Her combination of vivid colour, highly detailed works and high-level composition led to widespread appreciation in the art world.^[6] Her paintings often describe the Mina Mina country.^[7] She was a member of the Warlukurlangu Artists community of Yuendumu.

Well known for the distinctive style of painting that she developed alongside her sister Maggie Napangardi Watson, who taught her painting skills, she was a significant contributor to contemporary Indigenous Australian art.^[8]

Galleries displaying her art

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• , Utrecht, Netherlands
• Gordon Darling Foundation, Canberra
• Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
• South Australian Museum, Adelaide
• Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
• Stamp Gallery of Art, College Park, Maryland, U.S.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Judy Watson Napangardi Paintings & Artist Profile . Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery. 21 October 2021.
2. Web site: Mina Mina Jukurrpa II, 2003. NGV . 21 October 2021.
3. Web site: Judy Napangardi Watson . Warlukurlangu . 21 October 2021.
4. Web site: Vale Judy Napangardi Watson, 1925–2016 - Warlpiri artist and force of nature - The Northern Myth. Gosford. Robert. 19 May 2016. The Northern Myth. en-US. 2016-05-19. dead. 20 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160520131420/http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2016/05/19/vale-judy-napangardi-watson-warlpiri-artist-force-nature/.
5. Web site: Tradition and Transformation: Indigenous Art in the NGV Collection. https://web.archive.org/web/20090911051445/http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvschools/TraditionAndTransformation/artists/Judy-Napangardi-Watson/. 11 September 2009. National Gallery of Victoria. 2016-05-19.
6. Book: Newstead, Adrian. The Dealer is the Devil: An Insiders History of the Aboriginal Art Trade. Brandl & Schlesinger. 2014. 9781921556432. Sydney. 284.
7. Geissler. Marie. March 2008. Judy Napangardi Watson. Craft Arts International.
8. News: Indigenous art seen as a sound investment. 20 March 2008. ABC. 20 July 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211114/http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2195474.htm. 3 March 2016. Reporter Paula Kruger talks to Tim Abdallah, national head of art at the auction house Deutscher-Menzies..