Albert NAMATJIRA
Born: Ntaria, Northern Territory, Australia 1902;
Died: Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia 1959
Language Group: Western Arrernte, Central Desert region
Talipate Gorge, Western Australia c. 1950
watercolour on paper
55.5 x 37.5 cm [image]; 86.5 x 64.9 cm [frame]Benalla Art Gallery Collection
Ledger Bequest, 1993
© Namatjira Legacy Trust/ Copyright Agency 2024
EXHIBITION PARTNER:
Shepparton Art Museum
13th Jun – 13th Jul 2025
Simpson Gallery
Ntaria is the home of the Western Arrernte people in the Northern Territory and includes Hermannsburg, a small town on the banks of the Finke River and at the foot of Mount Hermannsburg, 130 kilometres west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). The landscape features rugged mountains, deep gorges and dry plains, subject to harsh droughts and high temperatures. It features red desert, stunted trees and spinifex, and is flanked by the MacDonnell, Krichauff and Gosse ranges.
A Lutheran Mission was established at Hermannsburg in 1877 at a time when large areas of land were being leased for cattle stations, displacing the Arrernte people who then became dependent on the Mission for basic survival necessities. The Hermannsburg School of Art developed in the 1930s as a distinctive style characterised by watercolours painted in traditional European techniques, depicting the striking landscape and homeland of the Arrente people. Its most famous painter, and founder, was Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) who was mentored by visiting Melbourne artist Rex Battarbee during two, month-long painting trips which they embarked on through the surrounding countryside during 1936. Albert’s first solo exhibition of 41 paintings in Melbourne in 1938 sold out and his career, and the new style, flourished.
The new technique of realistic watercolour painting that Albert adopted was different from the iconographic or abstract approaches used by other Arrernte artists of the time. His success had a profound influence on his Community and descendants, many of whom continue to paint in watercolour. Namatjira watercolour artists are now based at Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) in Mparntwe, a not-for-profit Art Centre, that is proudly Aboriginal owned and directed. The Centre is strongly committed to improving economic participation of Aboriginal people and maintaining cultural heritage.
This exhibition introduces six new Ntaria watercolours that have come into the Benalla Art Gallery Collection; a generous gift by Peter and Wendy Fishley. Although Melbourne-based now, Peter and Wendy were previously farmers at Terip Terip in the nearby Strathbogie Ranges. Complementing these acquisitions are existing Ntaria works from the Collection and loans from Shepparton Art Museum.
Artists:
- Clem ABBOTT
- Edwin PAREROULTJA
- Otto PAREROULTJA
- Richard MOKETARINJA
- Albert NAMATJIRA
- Enos NAMATJIRA
- Ewald NAMATJIRA
- Gabriel NAMATJIRA
- Keith NAMATJIRA
- Maurice NAMATJIRA
- Oscar NAMATJIRA
- Reggie NAMATJIRA
- Brenton RABERABA
- Henoch RABERABA
- Herbert RABERABA
- Therese RYDER