Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri = top ten paintings sold
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (circa 1932–2002) was a legendary, blue-chip pioneer of the Papunya Tula movement and is widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest modernist painters. His complex, multi-layered cartographic masterpieces represent the absolute pinnacle of investment-grade Indigenous fine art. [1, 2]
At the elite tier of the global secondary market, his masterworks are fiercely collected by national museums and international fine art funds. While a definitive “Top 10” macro list fluctuates with private sales and currency rates, his public auction records are anchored by historic, multi-million dollar figures. Below are his highest-performing, record-breaking masterpieces ever sold publicly: [1]
The Pinnacle Sales & Historical Milestones
- Warlugulong (1977)
- Sale Price: $2.4 Million AUD (Sold in July 2007 via Sotheby’s)
- Significance: This stands as the all-time public auction record for a Clifford Possum artwork. Acquired directly by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), it is globally celebrated as a foundational masterwork of the 20th century.
- Composition: Spanning an immense landscape scale, it weaves together nine separate ancestral Dreamings, including the epic story of the Bushfire (Warlugulong) launched by the Blue Tongue Lizard. [1, 2]
- The Honey Ant Story (1972)
- Sale Price: $411,750 AUD (Sold in 2004 via Sotheby’s)
- Significance: Painted at the absolute dawn of the Papunya art movement on a modest piece of composition board, this work represents the immense value premium placed on early, historic foundational experiments.
- Long Jack Tjakamarra and Clifford Possum: Emu Dreaming (1972)
- Sale Price: $310,300 AUD (Sold in 2005 via Sotheby’s)
- Significance: A rare collaborative masterpiece executed on a small early board panel, illustrating the profound early communal lineages linking the foundational desert fathers.
- Yuelamu (Honey Ant Dreaming) (1980)
- Auction Range: $150,000 – $250,000+ AUD (Multiple high-tier auction iterations)
- Significance: A monumental, late-twentieth-century canvas demonstrating his transition into massive, dense, multi-coloured topographical mappings that command heavy international attention from institutional investors.
Key Value Indicators for Clifford Possum Masterpieces
When top-tier Melbourne galleries appraise a Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri canvas for six-or-seven-figure valuations, they prioritize three key structural attributes:
- The 1970s Papunya Board Premium: His rarest, most historically critical works are those executed between 1971 and 1973 on salvaged composition boards, wood fragments, or early canvases. Because these are largely locked away in public museums, any newly uncovered 1970s board commands immediate, high-value bidding wars.
- Layered “Anmatyerre” Cartography: Unlike simpler geometric patterns, Clifford’s highest-valued works utilize a profound visual layout that “stacks” stories. He would layer realistic tracks (human footprints, animal paws, skeletal elements) over an abstract background of intricate dot work, creating an anatomical map of the desert. [1]
- Flawless Primary Provenance: Because Clifford became highly famous later in life, he painted extensively outside the formal art centers during the 1990s. The gold standard for securing true investment-tier evaluations requires an original Papunya Tula Artists (PTA) catalog registration number, or bulletproof provenance linking back to historic collections like the CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) or the Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings (AGOD) archives.
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s landmark auction record is $2.4 million (AUD), set when his masterwork Warlugulong (1977) was purchased at a Sotheby’s Melbourne auction by the National Gallery of Australia. [1, 2]
Key Auction Highlights and Market Data
- Record Sale: Warlugulong (1977) sold for $2.4 million (including buyer’s premium), breaking the previous record for an Australian Aboriginal artwork at auction. [1]
- General Market Stats:
- Record Auction Price: $183,120 (for standard/general works outside of monumental benchmark sales)
- Total Auction Results: Over 410 to 690+ tracked works offered globally, with a sell-through rate of roughly 60%.
- Recent/Notable Sales: Works typically range widely depending on size and provenance—from smaller acrylics and dot paintings fetching $13,500 – $20,000 up to major major-provenance canvases estimated between $70,000 and $180,000 at houses like Deutscher + Hackett and Bonhams. [1, 2, 3, 4]
1 Hour Left
Ozbid Auctions
Est: 40,000 AUD – 60,000 AUD
30,500 AUD58 bids
2 Hours Left
Ozbid Auctions
Est: 15,000 AUD – 25,000 AUD
12,000 AUD43 bids
1 Hour Left
CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI, (1932-2002), ”Worm Dreaming”, Acrylic on canvas., 126cm x 81cm
Ozbid Auctions
Est: 6,000 AUD – 10,000 AUD
5,000 AUD20 bids
2 Hours Left
CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI, (1932-2002), ”Worm Dreaming”, Acrylic on belgian linen., 41cm x 76cm
Ozbid Auctions
Est: 2,000 AUD – 3,000 AUD
1,000 AUD14 bids
1 Hour Left
CLIFFORD POSSUM TJAPALTJARRI, (1932-2002), “Untitled”, Acrylic on linen., 28cmx 35cm
Ozbid Auctions
Est: 2,000 AUD – 3,000 AUD
1,100 AUD16 bids
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