The Art Gallery Aerogrammes is the third in a series of stamps and stationery based on works of art held in major Australian art galleries. The series showcases Australia’s rich artistic heritage through gallery collections. The artworks featured are by significant artists and provide us with insights into aspects of Australian culture.

This latest issue focuses on the Art Gallery of Western Australia, which was founded in 1895 and is located in the Perth Cultural Centre. The State Art Collection at the gallery comprises renowned collections of Western Australian, Australian and international art and design, as well as one of the finest collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in Australia. The gallery is strongly committed to showcasing Indigenous art, life and culture through the visual arts.

Jimmy Pike
Pirnini country 1988
multi-colour screen-print
67 x 85.1cm (sheet) 41.9 x 59.6cm (image)
Purchased 1988
State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia

Jimmy Pike (c. 1940–2002) grew up as a semi-nomadic hunter in the Great Sandy Desert. Following most of his relations, he left the desert as a boy and moved north to riverside country, where he was sent to work as a stockman on cattle stations. He spent several years in prison during the 1980s, where he started to paint. He became one of Australia’s most famous Aboriginal artists during the 1990s through his series of paintings and limited edition prints, which depicted traditional stories and incidents from his early life. In his later years, Pike travelled and exhibited in Australia and overseas, and his works have been shown in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Manila and Beijing, and toured in Italy and the USA. In 1995 Jimmy Pike was honoured with a major Retrospective at AGWA. His last works were shown in London in 2014.

Technical details

• Issue date: 5 April 2016
• Printer: A&G envelopes
• Cover design: Jo Mure
• Size: 220mm x 110mmm