Black-headed Pythons
1990

• George Milpurrurru

George Milpurrurru was born in his Country, the bush at Badigalimak near Gulpilil, at a place called Ngalyindi. He was the eldest son of Ngulmarmar (c. 1911 – c. 1977) and his first wife, Dhapalany, and the elder brother of bark painter Charlie Djurrutjini (born 1952) and weavers Elizabeth Djutarra and Robyn Djunginy. A former ceremonial leader of the Ganalbingu people, Milpurrurru belonged to the Gurrumba Gurrumba clan, the Bulain subsection and the Yirritja moiety. Milpurrurru was taught to paint by his father, Ngulmarmar, who he used to watch paint. He was also taught by his grandfather Lululna (c. 1910 – c. 1973) and his uncle Gomindju (c. 1915 – c. 1979). He remembers receiving ten pounds for paintings from interested buyers, including Dorothy Bennett and Alan Fidock – early collectors of First Nations art – but his work probably became recognised during the late 1960s when several bark paintings were collected by ethnologist Helen Groger-Wurm for the Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. With the death of his father around 1977, Milpurrurru assumed more ceremonial responsibility and with increasing ritual knowledge broadened his subject matter and refined his painting technique, encompassing several distinct styles.