Lionel Possum

Lionel Possum Tjungurrayi Paintings

Quick Facts

  • Full Name: Lionel Possum Tjungurrayi

  • Place of Birth / Origin: Central Australia, on Country associated with Napperby Station and Mount Allan, Northern Territory

  • Language Group / People: Anmatyerre

  • Father: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri AO, celebrated Papunya Tula founding artist

  • Mother: Emily Nakamarra Possum

  • Siblings: Daniel, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi and Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, all practising artists

  • Main Themes: Bush Fire Dreaming, Water Dreaming, Love Story, Men's Ceremony, Kangaroo Dreaming

  • Primary Medium: Acrylic on linen/canvas

Lionel Possum Tjungurrayi is an Anmatyerre artist from Central Australia and one of four children of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, widely regarded as one of the most significant and collected artists to emerge from the Papunya Tula movement. Taught to paint by his father alongside his sisters Gabriella and Michelle, Lionel carries forward the Dreamings and visual language of one of the most influential families in contemporary Aboriginal art.

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Early Life and Family

Lionel was born into a family deeply connected to the Country around Napperby Station and Mount Allan, in the traditional lands of the Anmatyerre people, roughly 200 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. His father, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, was among the founding artists of the Papunya Tula movement in the early 1970s and went on to become the most celebrated and highly collected Aboriginal artist of his generation. His mother, Emily Nakamarra Possum, was a Luritja woman.

Lionel is one of four children born to Clifford and Emily, alongside his brother Daniel and his sisters Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi and Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, both of whom have gone on to build significant reputations as artists in their own right. All three siblings were taught to paint by their father from a young age, growing up immersed in his practice and the Dreaming stories that would come to define their own work.

Artistic Journey

Lionel's artistic education began at home, learning directly from his father's example. Clifford Possum was renowned for translating the sand and ceremonial body-painting traditions of his Anmatyerre Country into large, intricately layered paintings on canvas, and his children absorbed both the visual techniques and the cultural knowledge underpinning them. Growing up around this practice gave Lionel a grounding in the same Dreaming trails and ancestral stories that made his father's work so significant.

As an artist working today, Lionel continues this family tradition, painting the Country and Dreamings inherited through his father's line while developing his own individual approach to the subject matter.

Style and Themes

Lionel's paintings draw on the same rich body of ancestral stories associated with his father's Country, including the Bush Fire Dreaming, connected to his grandmother's Country south of Yuendumu, and the Love Story Dreaming inherited from his father's Country west of Mount Allan. His work also depicts Water Dreaming, Men's Ceremony and Kangaroo Dreaming, reflecting the breadth of ancestral narrative associated with his family's traditional lands.

Working primarily in acrylic on linen and canvas, Lionel's paintings carry the layered, map-like quality associated with the Anmatyerre tradition his father helped establish, translating ceremonial and topographic knowledge of Country into contemporary painted form.

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Artistic Legacy

As the son of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Lionel occupies a distinctive place within one of the most significant families in the history of contemporary Aboriginal art. His father's works are held in major public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia and the Royal Collection, and his 1976 painting Warlugulong sold for A$2.4 million in 2007, at the time a record for an Australian Aboriginal artwork.

Lionel's own paintings, including works such as Fire Dreaming, have been exhibited and offered through galleries with strong ties to Central Australian art, and continue to build on his father's legacy while carrying his own distinct interpretation of the family's Dreamings forward.

Discover Authentic Aboriginal Art

If you are interested in collecting authentic works by Lionel Possum Tjungurrayi or other respected Anmatyerre artists, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery offers a carefully curated selection sourced from reputable Aboriginal-owned art centres and trusted galleries.

Whether you are beginning your collection or adding to an established one, Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery provides genuine Indigenous artworks that honour Australia's rich cultural heritage while supporting Aboriginal artists and their communities.

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