HISTORY
The Spiritual Perspective of
Aboriginal Painter Rover Thomas
by Nevill Drury
This article was written by the late Nevill Drury (1947 – 2013).
It is reproduced here with the kind permission of his wife, Lesley Drury.
Nilah Marudji (Rovers Country)1996
Natural Earth Pigments on Canvas
120 x 120 cm
Rover Thomas [1926-1998] is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary
Aboriginal painters. Represented in the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of
Western Australia and the Holmes a'Court Collection, he was chosen to represent Australia in
the Venice Biennale in 1990 ( together with urban Aboriginal artist Trevor Nickolls ) and
also featured prominently in the international 'Aratjara' exhibition of Aboriginal art shown in
Dusseldorf and London in 1993.
A major retrospective exhibition of his paintings - 'Roads Cross' - was held at the National
Gallery of Australia in 1994.