Rosemary Petyarre was born in Atneltyeye or Boundary Bore on Utopia Station, Northern Territory. Rosemary was one of a group of Anmatyerre women at the forefront of the art movement in the Utopia area.

She  was amongst a small group of women who traveled to Indonesia to learn various techniques in the manufacturing of batiks. It was after the Holmes à Court ‘Summer Project’  sponsored by the CAAMA network in 1988 that Rosemary spread her wings and started painting with acrylics and canvas. This led to a career in painting with acrylics on canvas.

Her works vary from the use of traditional iconography to the more contemporary styles of the Utopia region. The themes are primarily bush medicines, yam dreaming and body painting. As a bush woman, she is familiar with her land and its abundance of bush tucker species, medicine plants and native fauna. These are the stories inherited by her, along with important women’s stories, and these form the basis of her paintings.

Rosemary is sister to famous Aboriginal artist Greeny Purvis Petyarre. Other famous Petyarre artists include well known Gloria Petyarre, Jeannie Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre, Ada Bird Petyarre, Violet Petyarre, Myrtle Petyarre and Nancy Petyarre.

Holmes a’Court Collection, Perth

Various private collections in Australia and overseas

1989 – Utopia Women’s Paintings ‘A Summer Project’

1990 – ‘A picture Story’, 88 silk works from the Holmes a’Court Collection, UK

1993 – Central Australian Aboriginal Art & Craft Exhibition, Alice Springs

And many other group shows in Australia and overseas.

PAINTINGS CURRENTLY IN STOCK

(click on image below for more details)