Dinny Nolan was a Warlpiri and Anmatyerre artist born west of Mt Allan near Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. He initially worked as a stockman across the region before joining the Papunya Tula art movement in the 1970s alongside his brother Kaapa Tjampitjinpa and cousins Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri. As a senior lawman, he led ceremonies connected to Rainmaking and Water Dreaming. He and a small group of artists were historically significant for first depicting traditional body paintings and sand drawings onto canvas.