TURKEY TOLSON TJUPURRULA

While Turkey Tolson was present during the early painting years at Papunya, his early works have never been valued highly. Despite being extremely pleasing and well-rendered small images, only two appear in the best 50 results for this artist at auction. For example, Napaltjarri Dreaming, created by the artist in 1973, was valued by Sotheby’s at just $5,000 – 8,000 and sold for $6,000 in 2005. The best sales result achieved for an early career work occurred as early as 1996 when a very attractive untitled painting measuring 46 x 15 cm sold for $8,625. Why Sotheby’s failed to increase the estimate and stand by his early board in 2005 remains a mystery. This may be partially explained by the failure of an extraordinary canvas thought to have been painted by the artist in 1974/5, which appeared in Christie's Modern Aboriginal Art auction (Lot 51) just the year before. The very large canvas, measuring 203 x 174 cm, was thoroughly documented by Dr. Vivien Johnson and had an estimate of $60,000-80,000.

Tolson painted continuously throughout the 1970s and into the late 1990s exploring many themes throughout his career as an artist, but none of these works have achieved the success of his most emblematic image – that of the Spear Straightening associated with the site Illingaungau. The paintings of this story occupy almost all of his highest results. Moreover, five of his top ten paintings were produced for Papunya Tula between 1996 and 2000, two years before his death.

Turkey Tolson was a highly gifted, innovative artist whose range of imagery sets him amongst the finest exponents of desert painting. In comparison to the Spear Straightening works of his later years, his 1980s paintings have been mysteriously overlooked and would seem to represent great value in the current market for an artist of this stature. Many of these works explore a range of stories with imagery that is more varied and complex in structure than those created late in his life. While the telltale signs of his subsequent imagery are present, he was yet to pare down his imagery to its most essential elements at this earlier stage of his career. An iconic painting of this period is a Papunya Tula work titled, Two Travelling Women at Pultja, 1983, which measured 194 x 274 cm. Offered for sale in 2003 by Sotheby’s with an estimate of $10,000-15,000, it sold for the modest sum of $9,200. Sotheby’s put up another very nice example in 2004 (Lot 491) with an estimate of $12,000-18,000, yet this work failed to sell until the following year when Lawson~Menzies (May 2005) achieved $15,600 (Lot 63). In 2015 a very interesting 120 x 180 cm untitled work created in 1985, featuring a Perente Dreaming story, was offered at Mossgreen auctions with a presale estimate of just $6,000-$8,000. It sold for $15,860 (Alan Boxer Collection of Australian Indigenous Art, Melbourne, 17/03/2015, Lot No. 14).

Under 40 of the over 300 works that have gone to auction have achieved prices higher than $20,000. Paintings created during the 1980s, with a wider artistic range and good provenance, would seem to represent fantastic value and canny collectors would be well advised to seek them out. Tolson is a much better artist than he is given credit for. Gathered together, his 1980s works would make a fascinating exhibition, and herald a major reappraisal of his career.