The World’s Local Fine Art

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi c.1935-2010

An ancient culture of 60 thousand years gave the World its most exciting Contemporary Art

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi (c. 1935–2010) was a prestigious Pintupi elder and leading contemporary Indigenous Australian artist. Born in the WA desert, she became a central figure in the Papunya Tula Artists from 1996 until her death in 2010, creating some of the most dynamic Contemporary Art.  

Artistic Significance: Nancy Ross Nungurrayi's work is considered highly important within the context of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art. She was a leading artist of the Kintore and Kiwirrkura regions and a respected Pintupi Elder. Nungurrayi is celebrated for her dynamic abstract style, characterized by bold, layered colouring and "piling on" of paint to create radiant, richly textured surfaces.

Global Reach: Highly sought after by international collectors, with active primary market sales at Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (London/New York), Michael Reid (Berlin), and Redot Fine Art Gallery (Singapore).

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi 1935-2010

Tjukurrpa (2006) NR200112  Dream Time story

Synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen

155 cm x 125 cm

Price:  Enquire

 the story - The concentric circles signify locations used for Aboriginal ceremonies. The parallel lines that connect these circles are ancestral paths called "song lines" created by the mythical ancestors (Tingari) of the Aborigines. The main site is the Rockhole of "Marrapinti also painted by Nancy sister Naata Nungurrayi.

Biography

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi (c. 1935-2010) 

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi (c. 1935–2010) was a prestigious Pintupi elder and leading contemporary Indigenous Australian artist. Born in the Western Australia desert, she became a central figure in the Papunya Tula Artists cooperative from 1996 until her death in 2010, she created some of the most dynamic Contemporary Art. 

Artistic Significance

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi’s work is considered highly important within the context of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art. She was a leading artist of the Kintore and Kiwirrkura regions and a respected Pintupi Elder.

Nungurrayi is celebrated for her dynamic abstract style, characterized by bold, layered colouring and "piling on" of paint to create radiant, richly textured surfaces. Her work primarily explores Women’s Law and the Tingari Dreaming cycles, depicting sacred sites like Marrapinti and Wala Wala through complex patterns of concentric circles and ancestral paths (songlines). 
 

Major Exhibitions and Gallery Representation

Notable Global Presences:

Her work has been shown at the Australian Embassy in Paris (2005) and featured in international showcases through Major International Representation:
 

Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (London): leading champion of Indigenous Australian art in Europe. Her work was featured in the significant exhibition Land and Landscape in Aboriginal Art (2015).
 

Bay Gallery (London) showcases Western Desert artists at major UK.
 

Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (New York): Maintains a permanent presence for her work in the U.S. and held a dedicated exhibition for Nancy in 2015.
 

Gagosian Gallery: (Basel, Switzerland) Gagosian featured Pintupi artists in the major Desert Painters of Australia (2019) exhibition, which solidified the global standing of Nungurrayi's immediate artistic circle.
 

Michael Reid Berlin has exhibited her work as part of their focus on contemporary Australian Indigenous art.
 

Redot Fine Art Gallery (Singapore) regularly features her work at international art fairs like Art Stage Singapore.

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi's work has been primarily featured in curated group exhibitions and showcase events at major international galleries, rather than strictly solo exhibition formats. Key dates for these international showcases include:

London, United Kingdom Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (Fitzrovia):
August 2015: Tracks: Land and Landscape in Aboriginal Art. This major exhibition coincided with the British Museum's landmark Indigenous Australia exhibition and featured Nungurrayi as a key master of the Papunya desert community.

Tribal Art London (Mall Galleries): September (Annual): Her work has been regularly presented here by specialist dealers like Bay Gallery UK. 
 

Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery Art gallery London, United Kingdom and Rebecca Hossack Art GalleryNew York City, USA
2015: A dedicated showcase of Nancy's work was held at the gallery’s New York location to mirror the London retrospective. Grey Art Gallery Art museum New York, NY, United States
 22 January – 11 April 2026: Past and Present Together.
A significant institutional exhibition organised with Papunya Tula Artists featuring her work alongside her sister Naata Nungurrayi. 
 

France, Netherlands & Singapore
2005: Découvrir, Rêver, Investir L'art Aborigène d'Australie, Australian Embassy, Paris.
2004: Peintres Pintupi at Galerie Dad, Mantes-la-Jolie. Nice, France: June-July 2008 & 2009: The Contemporary Painting of the Aborigines of Australia at Galerie d'art Princesse de Kiev. Utrecht, Netherlands: Jan 2015: Saltwater Country at the Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art. Asia Singapore:
 2014–2016 (Annual): Regularly featured in major group exhibitions at Redot Fine Art Gallery, including their annual anniversary shows.

Key Historical Exhibition:

Participated in the landmark Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius exhibition (2000) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. 

Global Reach:

Highly sought after by international collectors, with active primary market sales at Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (London/New York), Michael Reid (Berlin), and Redot Fine Art Gallery (Singapore).

 

Institutional Museums and Private Collections

Her work is held in prestigious public and private collections worldwide: 

Australia:

National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), Art Gallery of NSW (Sydney, Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane), Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide), and Artbank (Sydney).

Commercial Representation: Galeria Aniela Fine ART (NSW), Harvey Galleries (NSW/QLD), and Jila Arts (Alice Springs, NT). 

Market Trends and 2026 Outlook

As of 2026, Nancy Ross Nungurrayi remains a staple of the high-end Indigenous art market. 

• Posthumous Value: Since 2010, the scarcity of authentic works from her late-career peak has driven steady interest from serious institutional and private collectors.

• Curatorial Interest: Nancy Ross Nungurrayi's works continue to appear in major thematic exhibitions, such as High Colour at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, running through August 2026.

• Global Positioning: The focus on female First Nations artists (alongside her sister, Naata Nungurrayi) ensures her work remains a key target for international modern abstract art portfolios. 

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi is an important international modern abstract artist born around 1935 and she died 2010.  

Nancy Ross Nungurrayi has created some of the most exciting form of contemporary Australian Indigenous art, based on an ancient tradition of 60 thousands years.

Nancy work is dynamic and in high demand in the World Art Market keenly sought-after by international buyers. Nancy paintings are exhibited internationally and Australia wide.

Nancy Nungurrayi work is represented in major corporate and public collections throughout the world including Rebecca Hossack, London, Redot Fine Art Stage, Singapore, Michael Reid, Berlin, Germany, Rebecca Hossack, New York, Kelton Foundation USA, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Museum Art Gallery of  Northern Territory, Darwin, Artbank, Sydney, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Homes a Court Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia.

About Nancy Nungurrayi paintings

THE STORY

Nancy Ross designs are complex with great attention to details, she creates unique artworks that have the physical presence of the much contemporary ART.

The concentric circles signify locations used for Aboriginal ceremonies. The parallel lines that connect these circles are ancestral paths called "song lines" created by the mythical ancestors (Tingari) of the Aborigines. The main site is the Rockhole of "Marrapinti also painted by Nancy sister Naata Nungurrayi.

Nancy depict the dreaming sites or “Tjukurrpa Dreaming” relating the traditional homeland of the Kintore country that include Tali (Sand Hills) and Puli (rocky hills) painted as a series of curved linear patterns.

In the Tjukurrpa, the Dreaming, the ancestors created the world and laid down the laws for people’s behaviour. Tjukurrpa refers to origins and powers embodied in country, places, objects, songs and stories. It is a way of seeing and understanding the world and connects people to country and to each other through shared social and knowledge networks.

Many Nancy Ross Nungurrayi paintings depict women grinding 'wangunu', grass seeds used to make traditional damper. Nancy designs are associated with the Rock-Hole site of "Marrapinti", to the west of the Kiwirrkura Community.

The main site known as “Marrapinti” is the site were women gathered for ceremony during the "Time of Creation" - Dream-Time "Tjukurrpa".

Nancy designs represent various aspects of the landscape such as Sand-dunes and Rock escarpments known as (Tali) and (Puli). Nancy paints “Karrku” story (refers to red ochre).

The concentric circles signify the locations used for ceremonies. The parallel lines that connect each of these sites are 'song' lines established during ancestral activities that are used during the movement from one site to the next and provide evidence of the presence of ancestral beings.

The arcs represent Sand-Hills surrounding the site. The women are depicted as “U” shapes and the background colours and designs represent is the landscape of Sand-Dunes and Rock escarpments.

Apart from the symbols used to represent the women and their activities. Women also gathered “kumparapara” native tomato, the dried fruit was ground to paste and baked in hot coals.

Nancy’s stories include; “Mantarrkurra”, “Tunitjarra”- kunkga tjuta or “many women”, “Marrapinti” – women’s business. “Mamuttjulku” – Nancy’s (Tjapaltjarri) father’s site. Also she paints “Mantjintjalkara” area located in the Karrku area and “Wirunya” story about a ceremonial skirt worn by women.

Marrapinti Dreaming

A large group of senior women camped at this rock hole making the nose-bones, also known as Marrapinti, which are worn through a hole in the nose-web. These nose-bones were originally won by both men and women but are now only worn by the older generation on ceremonial occasions.

The nose-bones are known as "Marrapinti" after the location, and they are a part of one of the most important Aboriginal ceremonial rites.

The 'nose-bone ceremony' marks an Aboriginal boy's transition to man-hood. The ritual begins with the painting of sacred symbols on the body, followed by piercing the septum. The women later travelled east passing through the Kiwirrkura area.

Homes a Court Collection

Nancy Nungurrayi, Alice Springs 2006

 

Literature Source & FURTHER REFERENCES Australian Aboriginal Artist dictionary of biographies Kreczmanski, Janusz B and Birnberg, Margo (eds.): Aboriginal Artists: Dictionary of Biographies: Central Desert, Western Desert and Kimberley Region JB Publishing Australia, Marleston, 2004. Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert - A Biographical Dictionary by Vivien Johnson, published by Craftsman House 1994 The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture edited by Sylvia Kleinert and Margo Neale published by OUP 2000 Aboriginal Artists: Dictionary of Biographies: Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region JB Publishing Australia, Marleston, 2004 Brody, A. 1989 Utopia women’s Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A summer Project, 1988-89 exhib. Cat. Heytesbury Holdings, Perth Brody A. 1990 Utopia, a picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Homes a Court Gallery and gallery Collection, Heytesbury Holdings LTD Perth NATSIVAD database, Latz, P. 1995, Bushfires & Bushtucker, IAD Press, Alice Springs Brody, A. 1989 Utopia women’s Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A summer Project 1988-89 exhib. Cat. Heytesbury Holdings, Perth Brody Amadio, N. und Kimber, R., Wildbird Dreaming. Aboriginal Art from the Central Deserts of Australia, Greenhouse Publ., Melbourne 1988; Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland 1990, Ausst. Kat.; Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn. Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami (Hrsg.), 1991, Ausst. Kat.; Droombeelden - Tjukurrpa. Groninger Museum (Hrsg.), Groningen 1995, Ausst. Kat.; Isaacs, J., Australia´s Living Heritage. Arts of the Dreaming, Lansdowne Press, Sydney 1984; Isaacs, J., Australian Aboriginal Paintings. Lansdowne, Sydney 1989, ISBN 186302011X; Johnson, V., Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert. A Biographical Dictionary, Craftsman House, East Roseville 1994, ISBN 9768097817; Modern Art - Ancient Icon. The Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings (Hrsg.), o.O. 1992, ISBN 0646080520; Nangara. The Australian Aboriginal Art Exhibition from the Ebes Collection. The Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings (Hrsg.), Melbourne 1996, Ausst. Kat.; Stourton, P. Corbally, Songlines and Dreamings. Lund Humphries Publ., London 1996, ISBN 0853316910; The Painted Dream. Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings. Johnson, V. (Hrsg.), Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland 1991, Ausst. Kat.; Tjinytjilpa. The Dotted Design. Aboriginal Art Galleries of Australia (Hrsg.), Melbourne 1998, Ausst. Kat.; Traumzeit - Tjukurrpa. Kunst der Aborigines der Western Desert. Die Donald Kahn-Sammlung, Danzker, J.B. (Hrsg.), Prestel, München und New York 1994, Ausst. Kat.; Voices of the Earth. Paintings, Photography and Sculpture from Aboriginal Australia. Gabrielle Pizzi (Hrsg.), Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1996, Ausst. Kat., ISBN 0646288954.

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