Rover THOMAS   c 1926  - 1998

Rover Thomas was born at Well 33 on the Canning Stock Route in the Central Desert, WA. As the region’s burgeoning pastoral industry encroached more and more onto Aboriginal land, Thomas’ family moved to the East Kimberley and later settled at Turkey Creek. Thomas travelled extensively in the country between the desert and Turkey Creek. He had an intense awareness of the land and its spiritual essence. His paintings depict Dreamings acquired during these travels. Thomas also had a special affinity with pigments. He developed a colour-field style in which large areas of the canvas are outlined and taken up by a single colour, in contrast with the “dot” painting style typical of Central Desert artists. Thomas’ work has appeared in many group exhibitions in Australia and in North America, Europe and Japan. He was one of three artists representing Australia in the 1990 Venice Biennale.

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