Dick Pantimas Tjupurrula

Dick Pantimas was a promising Pintupi artist associated with the influential Papunya Tula Artists movement. His traditional country was Yippa, north of Sandy Blight Junction near the Northern Territory and Western Australia border. Like his older brother, renowned artist Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, Dick frequently painted the Kalipinypa (Water Dreaming), an important ancestral story connected to his Country and cultural heritage.

Before beginning his own artistic practice in the late 1970s, Pantimas closely observed the senior Papunya painters, learning through careful attention to their techniques and storytelling traditions. He was also a close friend of artist Ray Inkamala. Although his career was tragically cut short by his death in 1983, Pantimas was widely regarded as one of the most talented artists of the second generation of Papunya painters. His work continues to be remembered for its powerful symbolism and connection to sacred water narratives. In 1990, imagery from one of his Water Dreaming paintings inspired a mosaic installation at Alice Springs Airport, reflecting the lasting impact of his artistic legacy.