We are proud to present this historic collection:

Exhibition Statement:

BEFORE THE CROSSING brings together an extraordinary collection of early and highly significant Western Desert paintings from the personal collection of Chris Simon OAM – works that have quietly lived for decades in his Northern Territory home, rarely seen beyond intimate circles of artists, collectors and close friends. For more than twenty years, collectors and dealers alike have hoped these important paintings might one day emerge from private hands. Only now, and exclusively through Harvey Galleries, has that opportunity arrived.

The exhibition takes its title from a pivotal moment in Aboriginal art history – before the crossing of cultures, markets and international recognition transformed the landscape of contemporary Indigenous art. These paintings carry the immediacy of that earlier era: works grounded deeply in Country, ceremony, memory and ancestral knowledge, painted not for trend or commercial expectation, but as powerful acts of cultural continuation.

Collected over decades by Chris Simon OAM, founder of Yanda Aboriginal Art, the exhibition reflects a lifetime spent building trusted relationships with some of Australia’s most revered desert artists. Simon established Yanda in the late 1990s and became widely respected for his commitment to ethical representation, scholarship and advocacy within Aboriginal art. His rural property outside Alice Springs became a gathering place and refuge for many senior artists including Mrs Bennett, Tommy Watson, Naata Nungurrayi and Walala Tjapaltjarri. In 2019, Simon was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the visual arts and his support of Aboriginal art and artists.

The artists represented in BEFORE THE CROSSING are among the most celebrated figures of the Western Desert movement: Mrs Bennett (Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa), Peg Leg Tjampitjinpa, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Paddy Lewis Tjapaltjarri, Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa, Naata Nungurrayi and John John Bennett. Their works embody both individual mastery and the shared visual language of Tjukurrpa – stories, law and knowledge carried across generations through painting.

This exhibition is not simply an offering of rare and important works; it is a glimpse into a deeply personal collection shaped by decades of friendship, trust and custodianship. Together, these paintings stand as enduring cultural records and as some of the most compelling achievements in contemporary Australian art.

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