Transcript of Albert Namatjira

Laura Earl Albert Namatjira Born at Hermannsburg Lutheran

Mission, near Alice Springs in 1902, Namatjira was raised on
the Hermannsburg Mission and baptised after his parents'
adoption of Christianity. He was born as Elea, but once
baptised, they changed his name to Albert. After a western
style upbringing on the mission, at the age of 13, Namatjira
returned to the bush for initiation and was exposed to
traditional culture as a member of the Arrernte community (in
which he was to eventually become an elder). He obtained
the love and respect of his land that is seen in his works.
After he returned, he married his wife Rubina at the age of
18. His wife, like his father's wife, was from the wrong "skin"
group and he violated the law of his people by marrying
outside the classificatory kinship system (see Australian
Aboriginal kinship). In 1928 he was ostracised for several
years in which he worked as a camel driver and saw much of
Central Australia, which he was later to depict in his
paintings.
Although doing a small amount of rough but non-traditional
artwork in his youth, Namatjira was introduced to western
style painting through an exhibition by two painters from
Melbourne at his mission in 1934. One of these painters, Rex
Battarbee, returned to the area in the winter of 1936 to paint
the landscape and Namatjira acted as a guide to show him
local scenic areas. In return Namatjira was shown how to
paint with watercolours, a skill at which he quickly shined.
Biographical Information Ghost Gums at Glen Helen, near
Alice Springs, Albert Namajira( 1945-49). Namatjira's skills at
colouring trees can be clearly seen in this portrait.
'MacDonnell Range Bluff' watercolour, Albert Namatjira

Namatjira was fully aware of his own talent, as was shown

when he was describing another landscape painter to William
Dargie.
"He does not know how to make the side of a tree which is in
the light look the same colour as the side of the tree in
shadow...I know how to do better."
Namatjira's skills kept increasing with experience as is shown
in the highly photographic quality of Mt Hermannsburg
(1957), painted only two years before he died.
"I AM ALBERT NAMATJIRA AND I PAINT THE GHOSTLY GUMS"
used in the Song I Am Australian.
The street names will be an acknowledgement of the
tremendous contribution the indigenous community makes to
all aspects of society, including the arts in which Ella Rose
Savage and Albert Namatjira have made outstanding
contributions Gladstone Observer - 2012-08-22 03:33:00
The late Albert Namatjira, in particular, is a household name
with his desert landscape works earning him international
acclaim. Gladstone Observer - 2012-08-22 03:33:00 Quotes
http://flair.wittysparks.com/quotes/Albert+Namatjira
http://www.you.tube.com/watch?v=LsUzj-3TNbM
http://www.you.tube.com/watch?v=2_rV-kYdniU
http://www.you.tube.com/watch?
v=prc6sQcURXU&feature=related

http://www.worldart.com.au/the-life-and-work-of-albertnamatjira/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Namatjira
http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/namatjira-albert.html
Bibliography Namatjira started painting in a distinctly unique
style. His landscapes normally highlighted both the rugged
geological features of the land in the background, and the
distinctive Australian flora in the foreground with very old,
stately and majestic white gum trees surrounded by twisted
scrub. His work had a high quality of illumination showing the
gashes of the land and the twists in the trees. His colours
were similar to the ochres that his ancestors had used to
depict the same landscape, but his style was appreciated by
Europeans because it met the aesthetics of western art.
In 1938 his first exhibition was held in Melbourne.
Subsequent exhibitions in Sydney and Adelaide also sold out.
For ten years Namatjira continued to paint, his works
continuing to sell quickly and his popularity continuing to
rise. Queen Elizabeth II became one of his more notable fans
and he was awarded the Queen's Coronation Medal in 1953
and met her in Canberra in 1954. Not only did his own art
become widely recognized, but a painting of him by William
Dargie won the Archibald Prize in 1956. He became popular,
critically acclaimed and wealthy. He, however, was always
glad to return to the outback. Namatjira's artworks were
colourful and varied depictions of the Australian landscape.
One of his first landscapes from 1936, Central Australian
Landscape, shows a land of rolling green hills. Another early

work, Ajantzi Waterhole (1937), shows a close up view of a

small waterhole, with Namatjira capturing the reflection in
the water. The landscape becomes one of contrasting colours,
a device that is often used by Western painters, with red hills
and green trees in Red Bluff (1938). Central Australian Gorge
(1940) shows detailed rendering of rocks and reflections in
the water. In Flowering Shrubs Namatjira contrasts the
blossoming flowers in the foreground with the more barren
desert and cliffs in the background. Namatjira's love of trees
was often described so that his paintings of trees were more
portraits than landscapes, which is shown in the portrait of
the often depicted ghost gum in Ghost Gum Glen Helen
(c.1945-49). Namatjira's skills at colouring trees can be
clearly seen in this portrait. Due to his wealth, Namatjira soon
found himself the subject of humbugging, a ritualised form of
begging. Arrernte are expected to share everything they own,
and as Namatjira's income grew, so did his extended family.
At one time he was singlehandedly providing for over 600
people.[citation needed] To ease the burden on his strained
resources, Namatjira sought to lease a cattle station to
benefit his extended family. Originally granted, the lease was
subsequently rejected because the land was part of a
returned servicemen's ballot, and also because he had no
ancestral claim on the property. He then tried to build a
house in Alice Springs, but was cheated in his land dealings.
The land he was sold was on a flood plain and was unsuitable
for building. The Minister for Territories, Paul Hasluck, offered
him free land in a reserve on the outskirts of Alice Springs,
but this was rejected, and Namatjira and his family took up
residence in a squalid shanty at Morris Soaka dry creek bed
some distance from Alice Springs. Despite the fact that he

was held as one of Australia's greatest artists, Namatjira was

living in poverty. His plight became a media cause clbre,
resulting in a wave of public outrage.
In 1957 the government exempted Namatjira and his wife
from the restrictive legislation that applied to Aborigines in
the Northern Territory. This entitled them to vote, own land,
build a house and buy alcohol. Although Albert and Rubina
were legally allowed to drink alcohol, his Aboriginal family
and friends were not. The nomadic Arrernte culture expected
him to share everything he owned, even after they ceased
being nomads. It was this contradiction that was to bring
Namatjira into conflict with the law.
When an Aboriginal woman, Fay Iowa, was killed at Morris
Soak, Namatjira was held responsible by Jim Lemaire, the
Stipendiary Magistrate, for bringing alcohol into the camp. He
was reprimanded at the coronial inquest. It was then against
the law to supply alcohol to an Aboriginal person. Namatjira
was charged with leaving a bottle of rum in a place, i.e. on a
car seat, where a clan brother and fellow Hermannsburg
artist Henoch Raberaba, could get access to it. He was
sentenced to six months in prison for supplying an Aboriginal
with liquor. After a public uproar, Hasluck intervened and the
sentence was served at Papunya Native Reserve. He was
released after only serving two months due to medical and
humanitarian reasons Despondent after his incarceration,
Namatjira continued to live with Rubina in a cottage at
Papunya, where he suffered a heart attack. There is evidence
that Albert believed that he had the bone pointed at him by a
member of Fay Iowa's family. The idea of being "sung" to

death was also held by Frank Clune, a popular travel writer,

aboriginal activist, and organiser of Albert's whirlwind 1956
trip.
After being transferred to Alice Springs hospital, Namatjira
astonished his mentor Rex Battarbee by presenting him with
three landscapes, with a promise of more to come; a promise
unrealised. He died soon after of heart disease complicated
by pneumonia on 8 August 1959 in Alice Springs. 'West
MacDonnells' watercolor, Albert Namatjira The National
Gallery of Australia summarises the subtlety of Namatjira's
work thus:
"Water is a powerful presence; it is the central dynamic for
change. Its absence or presence is the source of much of the
diversity of visual forms and motifs that engaged Namatjira
throughout his painting career. The 'red heart' is a misnomer
for a land in which light and distance are key factors that
shape perception, fragment forms and transform colour.
Namatjira developed a rich repertoire of compositional
devices to express his experience of being in this world. In so
doing, he expands our vision. He opens our eyes and our
senses to new ways of seeing the Centre."