Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula
| Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula | |
|---|---|
| Born | circa 1942 Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Died | 10 August 2001 (aged 58–59) Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Other names | Tolson Tjupurrula, Tolsen, Turkey Tolson |
| Known for | Painting |
| Works | Straightening spears at Ilyingaungau |
| Movement | Papunya Tula |
Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula (sometimes just Turkey Tolson; c. 1938 – 10 August 2001) was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, Turkey Tolson was a major figure in the Papunya Tula art movement, and the longest-serving chairman of the company formed to represent its artists.
A painter whose creative output spanned nearly three decades, controversy erupted briefly in 1999, when disputed declarations were made by the artist regarding whether some works under his signature had been painted by some female relatives. Creator of the work Straightening spears at Ilyingaungau (1990), Tolson's paintings are held by several major Australian public galleries, including the Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and the National Museum of Australia.
Son of Toba Tjakamarra, one of the first Pintupi people to come into European settlements out of the Western Desert, Turkey Tolson was born near Haasts Bluff, west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Sources differ on his birth year: researcher and art historian Vivien Johnson gives an estimate of 1938, while the National Museum of Australia suggests 1943. His mother was one of Toba's three wives: the other two (his stepmothers) were the artists Wintjiya Napaltjarri and Tjunkiya Napaltjarri. He had five half-siblings, the children of Toba and Wintjiya: Bundy (born 1953), Lindsey (born 1961 and now deceased), Rubilee (born 1955), Claire (born 1958) and Eileen (born 1960).
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