Kathleen Petyarre

Born:  c. 1940

Died:  2018

Language:  Eastern Anmatyerre

Country:  Atnangker Utopia, Northern Territory

Kathleen (Kweyetwemp) Petyarre was born circa 1940 at Atnangkere, an important water soakage in Utopia, approximately 300 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs. 

Kathleen first worked beside her famous aunt, Emily Kngwarreye, initially doing batik and then moving on to painting on canvas. Kathleen’s paintings refer to her country and her “Dreamings” which she inherited from her grandfather and father. Kathleen shares the Arnkerrth (the Old Woman Mountain Devil Lizard) dreaming with her sisters (and artists) Gloria Petyarre, Violet Petyarre, Ada Bird, Jean Petyarre and Myrtle Petyarre.

Collections include:

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
The Museum & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin
HM Queen Elizabeth II
University of South Australia Art Museum, Adelaide
Edith Cowan University, Perth
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
The Kelton Collection, Santa Monica, USA
Kluge-Rhue Collection, University of West Virginia VA
Musee du Quai Branly, Paris
Songlines Aboriginal Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice
Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Kunsthaus - Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle
Musee des Confluences, Lyon
The Vroom Collection, The Netherlands
Morven Estate Collection, Charlottesville, USA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle