Rover Thomas

Rover Thomas began painting in his early sixties, and was a pioneer of what later became known as the East Kimberly School, to which Queenie Mackenzie, Paddy Bedford and George Mung Mung belong. Thomas’ paintings combine aerial views and landscape profiles, forming maps of the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and relating significant traditional stories and histories connected to the region. His works are marked by their schematic simplicity and minimalist ochre palette. Thomas is considered one of the great visionaries of twentieth century Aboriginal art.

Thomas was born in 1928 at Gunawaggi near Well 33, on the Canning Stock Route in the Great Sandy Desert. He moved with his family, aged 10, to Billiluna Station where he was initiated into traditional Aboriginal law. Working as a stockman in the region, in 1975 Rover Thomas eventually settled in the Aboriginal community of Warmun, near Turkey Creek, where he became an important leader of the ceremonial life of the community through the Kurirr-Kurirr dance cycle.

Along with Trevor Nicholls, Rover Thomas represented Australia at the 44th Venice Biennale in 1990. His work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Perth; The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A; Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.