In the early 1960s Timmy Payungka Tjapangati’s family came to Papunya, a settlement set up by the Australian government in order to assimilate Aboriginals to a western lifestyle. In 1971, Geoffrey Bardon, a school teacher, introduced the western medium of painting here by distributing acrylic paint, canvas and board to the men there. This marked the birth of a new art movement. Timmy Payungka Tjapangati belongs to this first generation of artists from the later Papunya Tula Artists Collective.
Timmy is said to have been a very intelligent and attractive man, being described as "a sort of Apollo" by Ian Dunlop and "a classic Aboriginal warrior" by Geoffrey Bardon. He helped Bardon to learn Pintupi, while he improved his English. Timmy is also one of the few indigenous Australians who besides his own language (Pintupi) speaks the Warlpiri language. Furthermore Timmy gave painting lessons to his daughter, the now famous Lorna Ward Napanangka, who started painting in 1996.
Timmy is said to have been a very intelligent and attractive man, being described as "a sort of Apollo" by Ian Dunlop and "a classic Aboriginal warrior" by Geoffrey Bardon. He helped Bardon to learn Pintupi, while he improved his English. Timmy is also one of the few indigenous Australians who besides his own language (Pintupi) speaks the Warlpiri language. Furthermore Timmy gave painting lessons to his daughter, the now famous Lorna Ward Napanangka, who started painting in 1996.