Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs (cat. TL731022)
Dr Harry Perelberg, Melbourne

Between 1973 and 1974 Melbourne General Practitioner, Dr Harry Perelberg, relocated to Alice Springs for a period of several months to practise medicine. His visit coincided with the early years of the Western Desert painting movement that had begun in 1971 at Papunya and was steadily gaining momentum. Perelberg was immediately captivated by the dynamic and innovative work that was being produced by the founding artists of this immensely significant period in Australian art history. Along with fellow Anmatyerre artists Kaapa Tjampijinpa and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri was a key figure in the first years of the movement.

In late 1972 the artists formed an incorporated company to enable them to properly market and sell their works and in 1973 the Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd opened their gallery in Todd St, Alice Springs. Perelberg eagerly attended the gallery's opening day and, upon asking the Aboriginal elders to advise him on which work he should buy, they unanimously agreed that it should be the present work by Tim Leura. It was the first painting to be sold from the newly opened gallery.

The story in the present work takes place at Kalakintj (black hill), North of Napperby. This is Leura's traditional Anmatyerre/Arrente country - he was born at Napperby Creek and grew up around Napperby station. The accompanying Papunya Tula Artists documentation describes Kalakintj as 'a euro watering place. We see men camped around, lying in wait for the wallabies as they come for their evening drink. Also shown are the smooth places on the rocks worn shiny by the feet of many wallaby generations'.

Euro Hunting, 1973 features the symmetry and formal repetition that typically distinguishes the works of the Anmatyerre artists from those of the Pintupi men.1 A key feature of Leura's work in particular, is his use of an evening or night time setting. He 'excelled at evoking the muted tones of night' and his 'oeuvre is notable for its melancholy tertiary palette', evident in this subtle work.2 The Euro was a subject that Leura revisited throughout his oeuvre, painting several Euro Dreamings between 1972 and 1973 such as Untitled (Euro Dreaming Ceremony), 1972 in the collection of Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane that features a similarly formal structure.

Francesca Cavazzini

1. Hetti Perkins and Hannah Fink (eds), Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2000, p. 176
2. John Kean in Judith Ryan and Philip Batty et al., Tjukurrtjanu: origins of Western Desert art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2011, p. 54, p. 181

This work is accompanied by a copy of the original Papunya Tula Artists documentation.