Place of birth Rilyi-rilyi, 1930 or earlier. A very old man, Ronnie
Lawson is Pintupi/ Warlpiri and is well known and liked by everyone in
Lajamanu for the sweetness of his disposition. His country is
Rilyi-rilyi and his Dreamings are Karnta,Women Janmarda, Bush Onion and Wintiki.
A Ronnie Lawson painting of Pituri Dreaming features on the cover of an award winning thesis on adult education at Lajamanu by David Macleay and another of Bush Bean on the cover of the catalogue of the Donald Kahn Collection which has been touring the USA and Europe since 1991.
Ronnie often works with his wife, Louisa Lawson Napaljarri. They are both highly regarded painters. Ronnis Lawson started painting in 1986
in the traditional Painting course organsied by the TAFE unit at Lajamanu school.
Subject & Themes
Bush onion- janmarda, women- Karnta, pituri- bush “tobacco”, mens story.
Collections
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
Donald Kahn collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.
Group Exhibitions
1983 D’un autre continent: l’Australie le reve et le reel, ARC, Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France
1987 Australian Made, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
1989, Mythscapes, Aboriginal Art of the Desert, National Gallery of Victoria
1991, Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA
1993, The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1994, Dreamings – Tjukurrpa: Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert; The Donald Kahn collection, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria
Bibliography
Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, 1991,
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA ; Johnson, V., 1994
The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales. (C) ; 1983 D’un Autre Continent: l’Australie le Reve et le Reel, exhib. cat., ARC/Musee d’ Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France.(C)