MONT ZEIL / URLATHERRKE PEINT PAR ALBERT NAMATJIRA

ALBERT NAMATJIRA (1902-1959)
Mount Zeil / Urlatherrke  (1,531 m - 5,023 ft)
Australie

In Mount Zeil, watercolor on paper, 1945, Menzies International Fine Art & Sculpture

La montagne
Le mont Zeil/ Urlatherrke (1 531 m) est une montagne du Territoire du Nord de l'Australie située dans la localité du mont Zeil , dans l'ouest des MacDonnell Ranges. C'est le plus haut sommet du Territoire du Nord et le plus haut sommet du continent australien à l'ouest de la Great Dividing Range. Le nom du mont Zeil dans la langue occidentale d'Arrernte est Urlatherrke, en référence aux chenilles Yeperenye. On pense que le mont Zeil a été nommé pendant ou après l'expédition d'Ernest Giles en 1872, probablement en l'honneur du comte Zeil, qui s'était distingué par des explorations géographiques au Spitzberg ; une note de bas de page dans le journal publié de Giles implique que la nomination a été initiée par son bienfaiteur, le baron Ferdinand von Mueller.
Les MacDonnell Ranges, une chaîne de montagnes sont situées dans le Territoire du Nord et couvrent 3 929 444 hectares . La chaîne est une série de montagnes longues de 644 km (400 mi) situées au centre de l'Australie et constituées de crêtes parallèles s'étendant à l'est et à l'ouest d'Alice Springs. La chaîne de montagnes contient de nombreuses brèches et gorges spectaculaires ainsi que des zones d'importance autochtone. Les chaînes ont été nommées en l'honneur de Sir Richard MacDonnell (le gouverneur de l'Australie du Sud à l'époque) par John McDouall Stuart, dont l'expédition de 1860 les a atteint en avril de la même année. L'expédition Horn a étudié les chaînes dans le cadre de l'expédition scientifique en Australie centrale. Parmi les autres explorateurs de la chaîne figuraient David Lindsay et John Ross. Les sources des rivières Todd, Finke et Sandover se forment dans les chaînes MacDonnell. La chaîne est traversée par l'Australian Overland Telegraph Line et la Stuart Highway. Faisant partie de l'écorégion de broussailles xériques des Central Ranges, composée de prairies sèches et broussailleuses, les chaînes abritent un grand nombre d'espèces endémiques, dont la rainette centrale. Cela est principalement dû aux microclimats que l’on trouve autour des piscines rocheuses froides.
Les chaînes MacDonnell étaient souvent représentées dans les peintures d'Albert Namatjira.

Le peintre
Albert Namatjira, né Elea Namatjira, était un artiste aborigène de langue occidentale originaire des MacDonnell Ranges en Australie centrale. Pionnier de l'art australien aborigène contemporain, il fu tl'Australien indigène le plus célèbre de sa génération.
Né et élevé à la mission luthérienne d'Hermannsburg près d'Alice Springs, Namatjira s'est intéressé à l'art dès son plus jeune âge, mais ce n'est qu'en 1934 (32 ans), sous la tutelle de Rex Battarbee, qu'il a commencé à peindre sérieusement. Les aquarelles de l'arrière-pays richement détaillées et influencées par l'art occidental de Namatjira s'écartent considérablement des dessins abstraits et des symboles de l'art aborigène traditionnel et inspirent l'Ecole de peinture d'Hermannsburg. Son nom est très célèbre en Australie et des reproductions de ses œuvres sont accrochées dans de nombreuses maisons à travers le pays. Il est  considéré comme le modèle aborigène de celui qui a réussi dans la société dominante.
Bien qu'il ne soit pas le premier artiste aborigène à travailler dans un style européen, Albert Namatjira est certainement le plus célèbre. Ses arbres troncs blancs lumineux, ses gorges remplies de palmiers et ses chaînes de montagnes rouges virant au violet sous la lumière  crépusculaire sont devenues caractéristiques de l'école d'Hermannsburg. La mission Hermannsburg avait été établie par des missionnaires luthériens en 1877 sur les rives de la rivière Finke, à l'ouest de Mparntwe (Alice Springs).  

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2011-2024 - Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

MONT ZEIL / MAC DONNELL RANGES PEINT PAR ALBERT NAMATJIRA

ALBERT NAMATJIRA (1902-1959) 

Mount Zeil /Urlatherrke (1,531 m - 5,023 ft) 

Australie

 In Twin Ghosts, watercolour on paper, 38.0 x 54.5 cm, Menzies International Fine Art & Sculpture

 
A propos de cette oeuvre
Twin Ghosts est un exemple exceptionnellement grand et magnifiquement préservé de l'œuvre du grand peintre aborigène Albert Namatjira,  représentant l'un de ses sujets préférés, le paysage des MacDonnell Ranges, situé à environ 100 kilomètres à l'ouest d'Alice Springs et à environ 70 kilomètres au nord-ouest d'Hermannsburg qu'il a peint à de très nombreuses reprises. Les collines éloignées et l'arbre à gauche partagent également le centre de la composition. Les couleurs et les formes empathiques utilisées par Namatjira animent le sujet. La silhouette presque dansante du Mont Zeil s'oppose à l'arbre exagérément et sinueux. En termes formels, la peinture illustre la capacité remarquable de Namatjira à utiliser des techniques occidentales, développées au cours de centaines d'années, pour créer des œuvres très personnelles qui continuent de ravir les spectateurs plus d'un demi-siècle après leur création.

Le peintre
Albert Namatjira, né Elea Namatjira, était un artiste aborigène de langue occidentale originaire des MacDonnell Ranges en Australie centrale. Pionnier de l'art australien aborigène contemporain, il fu tl'Australien indigène le plus célèbre de sa génération.
Né et élevé à la mission luthérienne d'Hermannsburg près d'Alice Springs, Namatjira s'est intéressé à l'art dès son plus jeune âge, mais ce n'est qu'en 1934 (32 ans), sous la tutelle de Rex Battarbee, qu'il a commencé à peindre sérieusement. Les aquarelles de l'arrière-pays richement détaillées et influencées par l'art occidental de Namatjira s'écartent considérablement des dessins abstraits et des symboles de l'art aborigène traditionnel et inspirent l'Ecole de peinture d'Hermannsburg. Son nom est très célèbre en Australie et des reproductions de ses œuvres sont accrochées dans de nombreuses maisons à travers le pays. Il est  considéré comme le modèle aborigène de celui qui a réussi dans la société dominante.
Bien qu'il ne soit pas le premier artiste aborigène à travailler dans un style européen, Albert Namatjira est certainement le plus célèbre. Ses arbres troncs blancs lumineux, ses gorges remplies de palmiers et ses chaînes de montagnes rouges virant au violet sous la lumière  crépusculaire sont devenues caractéristiques de l'école d'Hermannsburg. La mission Hermannsburg avait été établie par des missionnaires luthériens en 1877 sur les rives de la rivière Finke, à l'ouest de Mparntwe (Alice Springs). 

La montagne
Le mont Zeil (1 531 m - 5 023 pieds) Urlatherrke (dan sla langue aborigène), est une montagne située à l'ouest des MacDonnell Ranges dans le Territoire du Nord de l'Australie, souvent déssiné par Albert Namatjira. C'est le plus haut sommet du Territoire du Nord et le plus haut sommet du continent australien à l'ouest de la Great Dividing Range. Les autres sommets des MacDonnell Ranges sont : le Mont Liebig (1 524 m - 5 000 pieds), le Mont Edward (1 423 m - 4 669 pieds), le Mont Giles (1 389 m - 4 557 pieds) et le Mont Sonder (1 380 m - 4 530 pieds).
Le mont Zeil a été nommé pendant ou après l'expédition d'Ernest Giles en 1872, probablement d'après le comte Zeil, qui s'était récemment distingué par des explorations géographiques au Spitzberg ; une note de bas de page dans le journal de Giles laisse entendre que ce nom a été donnée  par son bienfaiteur, le baron Ferdinand von Mueller.
Les MacDonnell Ranges, s'étendent sur 3 929 444 hectares. La chaîne comprend une série de montagnes de 644 km (400 mi) de long située en plein centre du continent australien et se compose de crêtes parallèles s'étendant à l'est et à l'ouest d'Alice Springs.  La chaîne a été nommée en hommage à Sir Richard MacDonnell (gouverneur de l'Australie-Méridionale de cette époque) par John McDouall Stuart, dont l'expédition de 1860 les a atteintes en avril de la même année. Les sources des rivières Todd, Finke et Sandover se forment dans les chaînes MacDonnell. La chaîne est traversée par l'Australian Overland Telegraph Line et la Stuart Highway. Faisant partie de l' écorégion de broussailles xériques des chaînes centrales de prairies sèches et broussailleuses, la chaîne abrite un grand nombre d'espèces endémiques, dont la rainette arboricole centralienne. Cela est principalement dû aux microclimats que l'on trouve autour des bassins de roches froides.Les MacDonnell Ranges ont été très souvent représentées dans les peintures d'Albert Namatjira. 

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2023 - Gravir les Montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

MOUNT ZEIL / URLATHERRKE PAINTED BY ALBERT NAMATJIRA

ALBERT NAMATJIRA (1902-1959)
Mount Zeil ot Urlatherrke (1,531 m - 5,023 ft)
Australia

In "Glen Helen", watercolor, 1930

The mountain 

Mount Zeil (1,531m - 5,023ft)  Urlatherrke  in aboriginal naming,  is a mountain situated in the western MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory. It is the highest peak in the Northern Territory, and the highest peak on the Australian mainland west of the Great Dividing Range. The others peaks of MacDonell Ranges are:  Mount Liebig (1,524m - 5,000 ft), Mount Edward  (1,423m - 4,669 ft), Mount Giles (1,389m - 4,557 ft) and Mount Sonder (1,380m - 4,530 ft). 

It is believed that Mount Zeil was named during or following Ernest Giles' 1872 expedition, probably after Count Zeil, who had recently distinguished himself with geographic explorations in Spitzbergen; a footnote in Giles' published journal implies that the naming was instigated by his benefactor, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller.

The MacDonnell Ranges, a mountain range and an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory, comprising 3,929,444 hectares (9,709,870 acres). The range is a 644 km (400 mi) long series of mountains located in the centre of Australia, and consist of parallel ridges running to the east and west of Alice Springs. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of aboriginal significance. The ranges were named after Sir Richard MacDonnell (the Governor of South Australia at the time) by John McDouall Stuart, whose 1860 expedition reached them in April of that year. The Horn Expedition investigated the ranges as part of the scientific expedition into central Australia. Other explorers of the range included David Lindsay and John Ross.The headwaters of the Todd, Finke and Sandover rivers form in the MacDonnell Ranges. The range is crossed by the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and the Stuart Highway. Part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub ecoregion of dry scrubby grassland  the ranges are home to a large number of endemic species including the Centralian Tree Frog. This is mostly due to the micro climates that are found around the cold rock pools.

The MacDonnell Ranges were often depicted in the paintings of Albert Namatjira.

 

The Painter

Albert Namatjira  born Elea Namatjira, was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation.

Born and raised at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission outside Alice Springs, Namatjira showed interest in art from an early age, but it was not until 1934 (aged 32), under the tutelage of Rex Battarbee, that he began to paint seriously. Namatjira's richly detailed, Western art-influenced watercolours of the outback departed significantly from the abstract designs and symbols of traditional Aboriginal art, and inspired the Hermannsburg School of painting. He became a household name in Australia—indeed, reproductions of his works hung in many homes throughout the nation—and he was publicly regarded as a model Aborigine who had succeeded in mainstream society.

Although not the first Aboriginal artist to work in a European style, Albert Namatjira is certainly the most famous. Ghost gums with luminous white trunks, palm-filled gorges and red mountain ranges turning purple at dusk are the hallmarks of the Hermannsburg school. Hermannsburg Mission was established by Lutheran missionaries in 1877 on the banks of the Finke River, west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Namatjira learnt watercolour technique from the artist, Rex Battarbee.

 

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2022- Wandering Vertexes
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

MOUNT ZEIL /URLATHERRKE PAINTED BY PETER TAYLOR TJUTJATJA

PETER TAYLOR TJUTJATJA (1940-2014)
Mount Zeil ot Urlatherrke (1,531 m - 5,023 ft)
Australia

In Glenn Helen / Yapalpe, 74 x 69 cm Watercolor, Private collection

The mountain 

Mount Zeil (1,531m - 5,023ft)  Urlatherrke  in aboriginal naming,  is a mountain situated in the western MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory. It is the highest peak in the Northern Territory, and the highest peak on the Australian mainland west of the Great Dividing Range. The others peaks of MacDonell Ranges are:  Mount Liebig (1,524m - 5,000 ft), Mount Edward  (1,423m - 4,669 ft), Mount Giles (1,389m - 4,557 ft) and Mount Sonder (1,380m - 4,530 ft). 

It is believed that Mount Zeil was named during or following Ernest Giles' 1872 expedition, probably after Count Zeil, who had recently distinguished himself with geographic explorations in Spitzbergen; a footnote in Giles' published journal implies that the naming was instigated by his benefactor, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller.

The MacDonnell Ranges, a mountain range and an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory, comprising 3,929,444 hectares (9,709,870 acres). 

Glen Helen is called by the Aboriginal traditional owners, the Arrernte people as Yalalpe. It is said long time ago in the Dreamtime there lived in a waterhole of Yapalpe a rainbow serpent. The Aboriginal people did not camp close to waters edge, as the serpent might take them and drown them. This waterhole is a sacred place, as the serpent might still be lying there (The Rainbow Serpent story). Yapalpe was also a favourite place of Albert Namatjira and depicted the landscape in this work. Yapalpe is often a meeting place for the Aboriginal people from the West and Central MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia.

The painter
Peter Taylor Tjutjatja was born c. 1940 at Oodnadatta, south-east of Alice Springs, in the Simpson Desert. As a small boy he travelled with his father often by camel or horse, to Horseshoe Bend Station, where his father worked as a station-hand. From there they travelled north working from station to station until they came to Hermannsburg, a Western Arrernte community in the MacDonnell Ranges, west of Alice Springs.
Hermannsburg in central Australia is the homeland of Albert Namatjira - the most famous Aboriginal painter of all time. Peter, as a small boy living in Hermannsburg was influenced by Albert Namatjira's central desert landscapes. While attending school in Adelaide, Peter showed an interest in drawing and his skills were further developed by his art teacher Trevor Clare.
Peter attended an exhibition of Albert Namatjira in Adelaide, which made him very homesick for his old beloved homeland. Peter returned to Alice Springs in his twenties, where he sat with Keith Namatjira and Clem Abbott to paint landscapes in watercolours which was later purchased in 1995 by Peter's tribal group Pwerte Marnte Marnte.
Peter travelled to Shanghai in 2013 as part of a Desart program and his work is exhibited in numerous private collections and important galleries. Peter was commissioned by Princess Anne to paint five landscapes of Central Australia.
Sadly in November 2014 Peter was involved in a car accident and tragically passed away. Out of respect of Aboriginal culture and Peter’s family Central Art has removed his photograph. Naming Aboriginal people who have passed away was traditionally forbidden. Traditionally you are required to avoid referring to the deceased directly by name as a sign of respect. This has also come to include photographs, filming and voice recordings as technology has grown. Central Art acknowledges that we have named Peter on our website however it is linguistically difficulty to promote his works without naming him.

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2021 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MACDONNELL RANGES PAINTED BY ALBERT NAMATJIRA

ALBERT NAMATJIRA (1902-1959) 

Mount Zeil or Urlatherrke (1,531 m - 5,023 ft) 

Australia 

In  The Grandeur, MacDonnell Range, watercolour, 1957 

The mountain
Mount Zeil (1,531m - 5,023ft) Urlatherrke in aboriginal naming, is a mountain situated in the western MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory, often poainted by Albert Namatjira. It is the highest peak in the Northern Territory, and the highest peak on the Australian mainland west of the Great Dividing Range. The others peaks of MacDonnell Ranges are : Mount Liebig (1,524m - 5,000 ft), Mount Edward (1,423m - 4,669 ft), Mount Giles (1,389m - 4,557 ft) and Mount Sonder (1,380m - 4,530 ft).
It is believed that Mount Zeil was named during or following Ernest Giles' 1872 expedition, probably after Count Zeil, who had recently distinguished himself with geographic explorations in Spitzbergen; a footnote in Giles' published journal implies that the naming was instigated by his benefactor, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller.
The MacDonnell Ranges, a mountain range and an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory, comprising 3,929,444 hectares (9,709,870 acres). The range is a 644 km (400 mi) long series of mountains located in the centre of Australia, and consist of parallel ridges running to the east and west of Alice Springs. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of aboriginal significance. The ranges were named after Sir Richard MacDonnell (the Governor of South Australia at the time) by John McDouall Stuart, whose 1860 expedition reached them in April of that year. The Horn Expedition investigated the ranges as part of the scientific expedition into central Australia. Other explorers of the range included David Lindsay and John Ross.The headwaters of the Todd, Finke and Sandover rivers form in the MacDonnell Ranges. The range is crossed by the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and the Stuart Highway. Part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub ecoregion of dry scrubby grassland the ranges are home to a large number of endemic species including the Centralian Tree Frog. This is mostly due to the micro climates that are found around the cold rock pools.
The MacDonnell Ranges were often depicted in the paintings of Albert Namatjira.

The Painter
Albert Namatjira born Elea Namatjira, was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation.
Born and raised at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission outside Alice Springs, Namatjira showed interest in art from an early age, but it was not until 1934 (aged 32), under the tutelage of Rex Battarbee, that he began to paint seriously. Namatjira's richly detailed, Western art-influenced watercolours of the outback departed significantly from the abstract designs and symbols of traditional Aboriginal art, and inspired the Hermannsburg School of painting. He became a household name in Australia—indeed, reproductions of his works hung in many homes throughout the nation—and he was publicly regarded as a model Aborigine who had succeeded in mainstream society.
Although not the first Aboriginal artist to work in a European style, Albert Namatjira is certainly the most famous. Ghost gums with luminous white trunks, palm-filled gorges and red mountain ranges turning purple at dusk are the hallmarks of the Hermannsburg school. Hermannsburg Mission was established by Lutheran missionaries in 1877 on the banks of the Finke River, west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Namatjira learnt watercolour technique from the artist, Rex Battarbee.
Initially thought of as having succumbed to European pictorial idioms – and for that reason, to ideas of European privilege over the land – Namatjira’s landscapes have since been re-evaluated as coded expressions on traditional sites and sacred knowledge. Ownership of country is hereditary, but detailed knowledge of what it ‘contains’ is learnt in successive stages through ceremony, song, anecdote and contact. Namatjira’s father’s country lay towards Mount Sonder and Glen Helen Gorge, in the MacDonnell Ranges, and his mother’s country was in the region of Palm Valley in Central Australia. In Namatjira’s paintings, the totemic connections to his country are so indelible that, for example, Palm Valley the place and Palm Valley, c.1940s, the painting seem to intersect, detailing Namatjira’s artistic, cultural and proprietorial claim on the land.
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. 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."
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

MOUNT ZEIL / URLATHERRKE PAINTED BY ALBERT NAMATJIRA

ALBERT NAMATJIRA (1902-1959)  

Mount Zeil ot Urlatherrke  (1,531 m - 5,023 ft) 

Australia 

 In Mt Hermannsburg, 1957, watercolour 

The mountain 

Mount Zeil (1,531m - 5,023ft)  Urlatherrke  in aboriginal naming,  is a mountain situated in the western MacDonnell Ranges in Australia's Northern Territory. It is the highest peak in the Northern Territory, and the highest peak on the Australian mainland west of the Great Dividing Range. The others peaks of MacDonell Ranges are:  Mount Liebig (1,524m - 5,000 ft), Mount Edward  (1,423m - 4,669 ft), Mount Giles (1,389m - 4,557 ft) and Mount Sonder (1,380m - 4,530 ft). 

It is believed that Mount Zeil was named during or following Ernest Giles' 1872 expedition, probably after Count Zeil, who had recently distinguished himself with geographic explorations in Spitzbergen; a footnote in Giles' published journal implies that the naming was instigated by his benefactor, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller.

The MacDonnell Ranges, a mountain range and an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory, comprising 3,929,444 hectares (9,709,870 acres). The range is a 644 km (400 mi) long series of mountains located in the centre of Australia, and consist of parallel ridges running to the east and west of Alice Springs. The mountain range contains many spectacular gaps and gorges as well as areas of aboriginal significance. The ranges were named after Sir Richard MacDonnell (the Governor of South Australia at the time) by John McDouall Stuart, whose 1860 expedition reached them in April of that year. The Horn Expedition investigated the ranges as part of the scientific expedition into central Australia. Other explorers of the range included David Lindsay and John Ross.The headwaters of the Todd, Finke and Sandover rivers form in the MacDonnell Ranges. The range is crossed by the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and the Stuart Highway. Part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub ecoregion of dry scrubby grassland  the ranges are home to a large number of endemic species including the Centralian Tree Frog. This is mostly due to the micro climates that are found around the cold rock pools.

The MacDonnell Ranges were often depicted in the paintings of Albert Namatjira.

The Painter

Albert Namatjira  born Elea Namatjira, was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation.

Born and raised at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission outside Alice Springs, Namatjira showed interest in art from an early age, but it was not until 1934 (aged 32), under the tutelage of Rex Battarbee, that he began to paint seriously. Namatjira's richly detailed, Western art-influenced watercolours of the outback departed significantly from the abstract designs and symbols of traditional Aboriginal art, and inspired the Hermannsburg School of painting. He became a household name in Australia—indeed, reproductions of his works hung in many homes throughout the nation—and he was publicly regarded as a model Aborigine who had succeeded in mainstream society.

Although not the first Aboriginal artist to work in a European style, Albert Namatjira is certainly the most famous. Ghost gums with luminous white trunks, palm-filled gorges and red mountain ranges turning purple at dusk are the hallmarks of the Hermannsburg school. Hermannsburg Mission was established by Lutheran missionaries in 1877 on the banks of the Finke River, west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Namatjira learnt watercolour technique from the artist, Rex Battarbee.

Initially thought of as having succumbed to European pictorial idioms – and for that reason, to ideas of European privilege over the land – Namatjira’s landscapes have since been re-evaluated as coded expressions on traditional sites and sacred knowledge. Ownership of country is hereditary, but detailed knowledge of what it ‘contains’ is learnt in successive stages through ceremony, song, anecdote and contact. Namatjira’s father’s country lay towards Mount Sonder and Glen Helen Gorge, in the MacDonnell Ranges, and his mother’s country was in the region of Palm Valley in Central Australia. In Namatjira’s paintings, the totemic connections to his country are so indelible that, for example, Palm Valley the place and Palm Valley, c.1940s, the painting seem to intersect, detailing Namatjira’s artistic, cultural and proprietorial claim on the land.

 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. 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) (above), painted only two years before he died.

 In 1957, Namatjira became the first Aboriginal person to be granted conditional Australian citizenship. This entitled him to limited social freedoms and to live in Mparntwe, although he was prohibited from purchasing land. His relations, including his children, were not permitted the same privileges. 

After an incident in 1958 that didn’t directly involve the artist, Namatjira was charged with supplying alcohol to members of the Aboriginal community – at the time, it was illegal for all Aboriginal people, except Namatjira, to possess and consume alcohol. Namatjira was sentenced to six months labour at Papunya and this, exacerbated by the authorities’ refusal to allow him to purchase the land of his ancestors, caused him profound despair. He served only two months, and died shortly after.

The more recent, dramatic success of the nearby Papunya Tula movement must be read against the history of its predecessor, the Hermannsburg school, which has endured for over half a century. In 2002, the centenary of Namatjira’s birth was celebrated with a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Source: 

- Art Gallery of New South Wales