Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri

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Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1933—21 June 2002) was an Australian painter considered one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists. His paintings are held in many galleries and collections, Australian and worldwide.

He was the most famous of the Aboriginal artists who lived around Papunya, in the Northern Territory's Western Desert area, when the acrylic painting style (known popularly as "dot art") was initiated. Geoffrey Bardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people to put their dreaming stories on canvas, stories which had previously been depicted ephemerally on the ground. Clifford Possum emerged as one of the leaders in this school of painting, which has come to be called Papunya Tula.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri died in Alice Springs on the day he was scheduled to receive a medal praising his contribution to art and to the Indigenous community and awarding him the Order of Australia. His obituaries, which appeared in newspapers around the world, generally referred to him as Clifford Possum and gave his age as about 70. While his year of birth is considered to be approximately correct, the day and month remained undocumented. His two daughters, Gabriella Possum Nungurayyi and Michelle Possum Nungurayyi, are renowned artists in their own right.