Albert Namatjira: vivid watercolours of the Australian outback – in pictures

Born 115 years ago today in Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, Albert (Elea) Namatjira remains one of Australia’s most famous artists, for his landscape paintings that celebrated the country through a unique lens of reds, ochres and purples. His story is a tragic one: the Western Arrarnta man became the first Aboriginal to be granted Australian citizenship in 1957. He was then exempted from laws that denied Indigenous Australians the right to vote, own property and drink alcohol, but was arrested for introducing liquor into his community – a charge which he denied. He was released from prison after two months but never recovered, and died of a heart attack in 1959, aged 57.

The National Gallery of Australia is celebrating the artist’s life and work with a new exhibition, Painting Country: a survey of 40 of his watercolours and painted objects which have never been publicly displayed.

  • Painting Country is on display until 19 November at the NGA, Canberra. Captions courtesy of the NGA

Main image: Photograph: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

  • Ghost gum, Glen Helen, c1950

    In Albert (Elea) Namatjira’s paintings, ghost gums can be seen to represent ancestors lived and dreamed. Namatjira’s ghost gums fill the frame and the heights of the branches are lost altogether.
    Ghost Gum, Glen Helen

  • Not titled (Ghost gum, Mt Sonder, MacDonnell Ranges), c1953

    In this landscape, Albert Namatjira’s ghost gum fills the frame. Alison French suggests that, in Namatjira’s painting of trees: ‘Trunks become torsos, branches arms. Bark functions for a tree in the same way as a skin does for human beings — folds and wrinkles are created by internal pressures of growth’. Namatjira’s ghost gum is magnificent, enduring and resilient, standing guard over a sacred site.
    Not titled (Ghost gum, Mt Sonder, MacDonnell Ranges), c1953

  • Mount Giles, Macdonnell Ranges, central Australia, c 1948

    Albert Namatjira never received formal art school training, instead learning to paint under extraordinary remote conditions.
    Mount Giles Macdonnell Range Central Australia

  • Glen Helen Gorge, c1955

    From the south looking north.
    Glen Helen Gorge

  • Mount Sonder, c1945

    While Albert Namatjira’s watercolours reflect his mastery of the conventions of western landscape painting, his use of colour is very different to the muted romantic tones of his contemporaries. When painting the MacDonnell Ranges, Namatjira’s use of powerful reds, ochres and purples made his landscapes come alive.
    Mount Sonder

  • Central Australian landscape, c1950

    Central Australian landscape

  • Kangaroo in landscape, 1937

    Kangaroo in landscape

  • Standley Chasm, c1945

    While other landscape artists of this era presented central Australia as a pleasant natural spectacle that could be enjoyed at a distance, Namatjira’s landscapes show his intimate understanding of his country at both a physical and spiritual level. Standley Chasm positions the viewer in the midst of sheer rock faces, giving the impression that they are standing at the base of the incredible formations.
    Standley Chasm

  • Illara Creek, c1945

    Illara Creek

  • Palm Valley, James Range, 1939

    Namatjira’s mother belonged to country around the region now called Palm Valley. From his mother, Namatjira inherited the status of kutungula, or manager, for this country. This was an important relationship. Under traditional Western Arrarnta law, the birthright to manage your mother’s country is as important as the right to own your father’s country.Palm Valley was among Namatjira’s most popular subjects. Its arid landscape is dotted with spring-fed pools that nourish the region’s special flora.
    Palm Vallery, James Range

  • Glen Helen Homestead, 1940

    Mount Sonder, West MacDonnell Ranges, in the background.
    Glen Helen Homestead
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