Rover, 2026

natural earth pigments on plywood

90 x 60 cm

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Provenance: Direct from the artist, Warmun, WA
Artwork story: Rover Thomas is regarded as the central figure of the East Kimberley painting movement. He did not begin painting until the early 1980s. Before then, he supervised Paddy Jaminji in painting the boards for the Krill Krill ceremony, which originated in one of his dreams. Rover was married to Peter Thomas’s aunt. This is Peter’s second portrait of him and forms part of Peter’s series of portraits of the first-generation painters of the East Kimberley. A long, pale landform edged with white dots stretches across the black ground behind Rover, while dots trace the edges of the board. The background echoes Rover Thomas’s distinctive visual language, characterised by planes of ochre, landforms drawn in profile, and white dots that define each shape and sometimes frame the entire composition, suggesting a view of one section of a larger Country.

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b. 1975

natural earth pigments on plywood

90 x 60 cm

Sold

Provenance: Direct from the artist, Warmun, WA
Artwork story: Rover Thomas is regarded as the central figure of the East Kimberley painting movement. He did not begin painting until the early 1980s. Before then, he supervised Paddy Jaminji in painting the boards for the Krill Krill ceremony, which originated in one of his dreams. Rover was married to Peter Thomas’s aunt. This is Peter’s second portrait of him and forms part of Peter’s series of portraits of the first-generation painters of the East Kimberley. A long, pale landform edged with white dots stretches across the black ground behind Rover, while dots trace the edges of the board. The background echoes Rover Thomas’s distinctive visual language, characterised by planes of ochre, landforms drawn in profile, and white dots that define each shape and sometimes frame the entire composition, suggesting a view of one section of a larger Country.