25/26 May Alison French

12 Pages·2011·0.55 MB·English

Diploma Lecture Series 2011
Art and Australia ll: European Preludes and Parallels
Seeing the centre: the art of Albert Namatjira
Alison French
25 / 26 May 2011

ALBERT NAMATJIRA 1902 -1959
SUBJECT/OBJECT/AGENT
1 TITLE
2 SUB TITLE SUBJECT/OBJECT/AGENT
3 Albert Namatjira, 1958, Frank Johnston (Photographer). National Library of Australia
4 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira, 1958, Frank Johnston (Photographer). National Library of Australia
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Across the Plain to Mount Giles, c. 1955, watercolour
over pencil on paper, Collection The Araluen Centre Alice Springs
5 Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Across the Plain to Mount Giles, c. 1955, watercolour over pencil
on paper, Collection The Araluen Centre Alice Springs
6 (UPPER LEFT) Exhibition of Paintings by the Arunta Group, Brisbane, July 1949. Fifty–one
paintings from the private collection of Mr. O. A (Oswald) Wallent, who organised the
exhibition. Exhibition sponsored by the Brisbane Telegraph with proceeds donated to the
Arunta Group, Hermannsburg Mission
(UPPER RIGHT) Exhibition of Paintings by the Arunta Group. Brisbane Telegraph Auditorium,
Brisbane Qld, 5 to 12 June 1954. Exhibition sponsored by the Brisbane Telegraph
(LOWER LEFT) Albert Namatjira painting Mount Hermannsburg c. 1950s Pastor SO Gross
(photographer) National Library of Australia.
(LOWER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Mount Hermannsburg, Finke River, c. 1946-51,
watercolour over pencil on paper, National Gallery of Australia
7 UPPER LEFT AND RIGHT) Albert Namatjira, 1958, Frank Johnston (Photographer). National
Library of Australia
(LOWER LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Across the Plain to Mount Giles, c. 1955,
watercolour over pencil on paper, Araluen Centre Alice Springs
(LOWER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Mount Sonder, MacDonnell ranges, c. 1957-
1959, watercolour over pencil on paper, National Gallery of Australia
8 (LEFT) Unknown Photographer, Albert Namatjira and William Dargie, National Library of
Australia
(RIGHT) William Dargie (1912-2007), Albert Namatjira, 1958, oil on canvas mounted on
composition board, National Portrait Gallery
9 *
(LEFT) William Dargie (1912 -2007), Portrait of Albert Namatjira, 1956, oil on canvas,
Queensland Art Gallery
*
(RIGHT) Noel Counihan (1913-1986), Albert Namatjira, 1959, after, stencil screen print from
one screen taken from original linocut 2nd state. National Gallery of Australia
10 Wieke Duyker, Bushland pottery, working 1960, Albert Namatjira, paint on terracotta, Museum
and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Battarbee Collection
11 SUB TITLE: KEY INFLUENCES
12 Axel Poignant (1906–1986), Albert Namatjira and his family, Northern Territory. Seated left to
right: his wife, Rubina; son, Ewald, and father, Jonathan.
Standing left to right: his daughters, Maisie and Hazel, 1946, printed 1981, gelatin silver
photograph, Art Gallery of NSW. Image courtesy of Roslyn Poignant
13 (left) Axel Poignant (1906–1986), Albert Namatjira's father Jonathon Namatjira, 1946, printed
1981, gelatin silver photograph, Art Gallery of NSW.
(right) Axel Poignant (1906–1986), Jonathon Namatjira, father of Albert Namatjira, 1946,
gelatin silver photograph, National Archives of Australia A1200:L7855A1200:L7855. Images
courtesy of Roslyn Poignant
14 Rex Battarbee painting, central Australia, ca. 1946, National Library of Australia
15 (UPPER CENTRE) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Untitled, c. 1938, watercolour over pencil on
paper. Newcastle Region Art Gallery
*
(LOWER LEFT) Rex Battarbee (1893 -1973) Not titled landscape, 1936, watercolour over pencil
on paper. National Gallery of Australia
(LOWER CENTRE) Rex Battarbee (1893 -1973) James Range, Central Australia, 1934,
watercolour over pencil on paper. Flinders University Art Museum
16 (UPPER) Albert Namatjira, (1902-1959), Untitled (Central Australia Landscape), undated,
watercolour over pencil on carved wood, clear varnish, spinifex resin and kangaroo sinew
binding. Provenance: Aranda Arts, Hermannsburg circa 1945. Purchased by William Graham
Stuart who was stationed in Alice Springs between 1942-45. Private collection
(LOWER) Albert Namatjira, (1902-1959), A Boomerang (Central Australia Landscape), undated,
watercolour and pencil on carved wood, clear varnish. Private collection
17 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Ghost Gum, c 1945, watercolour over pencil on paper.
National Gallery of Australia
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Ghost Gum, Glen Helen, c.1950, watercolour over pencil
on paper. National Gallery of Australia
18 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Ghost Gum, c 1945, watercolour over pencil on paper.
National Gallery of Australia
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Ghost Gum, c 1945, watercolour over pencil on paper.
National Gallery of Australia
19 (UPPER LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) , Untitled ( Central Australian Landscape), c 1953
watercolour over pencil on paper, Private Collection
(UPPER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) , The Western MacDonnell Range, central
Australia, c 1957 watercolour over pencil on paper, Private Collection
*
(LOWER LEFT) Otto Pareroultja, (1914-1973), The Hills behind Hermannsburg, c 1954,
watercolour on paper, Art Gallery of New South Wales
(LOWER RIGHT) Oscar Namatjira (1922-1991) , Untitled Landscape, Flinders University Art
Museum
20 (LEFT) Una Teague (photographer), Albert Namatjira leading camels for Jessie Traill and Una
Teague on trip from Hermannsburg to Palm Valley , 1932. Violet Teague Archive
(UPPER RIGHT) Jessie Traill (1881–1967) Natives carrying faggotts of wood, and camel carts
gathering sand, Hermannsburg 1928, watercolour on paper, Private Collection
(LOWER RIGHT) Jessie Traill (1881–1967) Central Australian Landscape, 1928, watercolour on
paper, Private Collection
21 SUB TITLE: LARLKINTANHERRAMA MOUNT HERMANNSBURG
22 (UPPER LEFT) Jessie Traill (1881–1967) Natives carrying faggotts of wood, and camel carts
gathering sand, Hermannsburg 1928, watercolour on paper, Private Collection
(LOWER LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Hermannsburg, 1940, watercolour over pencil on
paper. Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
(LOWER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Mount Hermannsburg, 1936 or 1937,
watercolour over pencil on paper. Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
23 (LEFT) Enos Namatjira (1920-1966), James Range, Central Australia, c. 1947 -1948, watercolour
over pencil on paper, Private Collection
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Mount Hermannsburg, watercolour over pencil on
paper, Collection: Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
24 Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Mount Hermannsburg, Finke River, watercolour over pencil on
paper, National Gallery of Australia
25 (UPPER) Walter Ebatarinja (19151968), Mt Hermannsburg from Nth East, 1949, watercolour on
paperboard, Flinders University Art Museum
*
(LOWER) Walter Ebatarinja (19151968), Untitled (Mt Hermannsburg), c1950-1960,
watercolour on paperboard, Flinders University Art Museum
26 Ivy Pareroultja painting at Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra ‘Many hands27‘Art Centre, 29 Wilkinson
Street, Alice Springs
27 SUB TITLE: FROM CAMELS TO CARS
28 Albert Namatjira, Mulga plaque (Constable McKinnon’s south west mounted camel patrol in
Palm Valley) 1932, pokerwork on hardwood. Private collection, Canberra
29 My Centralian Camel Patrol Map 1945 to 1952. One wooden matchstick = 60 miles. Mounted
Constable Ronald Agnew Brown. Finke NT. Northern Territory Archives
30 Detail from ‘My Centralian Camel Patrol Map 1945 to 1952. One wooden matchstick = 60 miles.
Mounted Constable Ronald Agnew Brown. Finke NT’. Northern Territory Archives
31 Pictorial map of the Northern Territory for Australia’s One Hundredth and fiftieth Birthday
Celebration 1938. Complied and drawn by E P Bayliss. Facsimile copy produced by the
Department of Lands and Planning, Northern Territory Government
32 Detail from Pictorial map of the Northern Territory for Australia’s One Hundredth and fiftieth
Birthday Celebration 1938. Complied and drawn by E P Bayliss. Facsimile copy produced by the
Department of Lands and Planning, Northern Territory Government
33 (UPPER CENTRE) Albert Namatjira driving express buggy across the Finke River, 1923.
Photograph by Mrs A E Heinrich.
(LOWER LEFT) One of Albert Namatjira’s abandoned trucks inscribed ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA
ARTIST HAAST BLUFF’. Photographed by Colin Macdonald in 1960. Image courtesy of Mary
Eagle
(LOWER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira posed ‘at the wheel’ of his Dodge truck 1956. Inscribed ‘THIS
VEHICLE PRESENTED BY AMPOL’ ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA, ARTIST ALICE SPRINGS’ ‘Tare.1.12.2.0.
Image courtesy of Mona Byrnes OAM
34 (LOWER LEFT) One of Albert Namatjira’s abandoned trucks inscribed ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA
ARTIST HAAST BLUFF’.
Photographed by Colin Macdonald in 1960. Image courtesy of Mary Eagle
(LOWER RIGHT) Albert Namatjira posed ‘at the wheel’ of his Dodge truck 1956. Inscribed ‘THIS
VEHICLE PRESENTED BY AMPOL’ ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA, ARTIST ALICE SPRINGS’ ‘Tare.1.12.2.0.
Reproduced with permission of Mona Byrnes OAM
35 DISTRICT WELARE OFFICER SALE OF HOLDEN SEDAN TO ALBERT NAMATJIRA, 9TH MAY 1955
36 Albert Namatjira posed ‘at the wheel’ of his Dodge truck 1956. Inscribed ‘THIS VEHICLE
PRESENTED BY AMPOL’ ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA, ARTIST ALICE SPRINGS’ ‘Tare.1.12.2.0.
Reproduced with permission of Mona Byrnes OAM
37 One of Albert Namatjira’s abandoned trucks inscribed ‘ALBERT NAMATJIRA ARTIST HAAST
BLUFF’. Photographed by Colin Macdonald in 1960. Image courtesy of Mary Eagle
38 SUB TITLE: ANGKALE STANDLEY CHASM
39 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Redbank Gorge, Central Australia, c.1936-37, watercolour
over pencil on paper, Private Collection Melbourne.
(CENTRE) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Quartatooma (Ormiston Gorge), 1939, watercolour and
goauche over pencil on paper, Private Collection Adelaide.
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Standley Chasm, c.1942-49, watercolour and goauche
over pencil on paper, inscribed verso ‘The Chasm’, Collection of Dr Beverley Castleman,
Melbourne
40 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Quartatooma (Ormiston Gorge), 1939, watercolour and
goauche over pencil on paper, Private Collection Adelaide.
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Standley Chasm, c.1942-49, watercolour and goauche
over pencil on paper, inscribed verso ‘The Chasm’, Collection of Dr Beverley Castleman,
Melbourne
41 Unknown Photographer, Portrait of Albert Namatjira painting, Northern Territory, c 1946,
National Library of Australia, nla.pic-vn4802384 and nla.pic-vn4802442
Albert Namatjira, Standley Chasm, c. 1942-49, watercolour and gouache over pencil on paper,
Private Collection, Melbourne
42 (LEFT) Jessie Traill (1981-1967), Standley Chasm, 1928, intaglio etching, printed in brown ink
with plate tone, from one plate. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
(CENTRE) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Standley Chasm, c.1942-49, watercolour and goauche
over pencil on paper, inscribed verso ‘The Chasm’, Collection of Dr Beverley Castleman,
Melbourne
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Standley Chasm, c.1942-49, watercolour and goauche
over pencil on paper, Private Collection, Melbourne
43 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Palm Valley, James Range, c 1945, watercolour over pencil
on paper. Private Collection, Adelaide
(RIGHT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959 The Gorge (Simpsons Gap), c 1945, watercolour over
pencil on paper. National Gallery of Australia
44 (LEFT) Angkale, Standley Chasm photographed by Anna McKenzie, 2006
(RIGHT) Peter Tjutjata Taylor (born 1940 -), Angkale, Standley Chasm, 2006, watercolour on
paperboard. Image courtesy of Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra ‘Many Hands ‘Art Centre
45 (LEFT) Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), Quartatooma (Ormiston Gorge), 1939, watercolour and
goauche over pencil on paper, Private Collection Adelaide.
(UPPER RIGHT) Otto Pareroultja (1914-1973), Ghost Gum, Ormiston Gorge, Central Australia,
1940s, watercolour on paper, Private collection
(LOWER RIGHT) Peter Tjutjatja Taylor( born 1940-), Ormiston Gorge on the Finke River, West
MacDonnell Ranges, 2007, watercolour on paperboard. Image courtesy of Ngurratjuta Iltja
Ntjarra ‘Many Hands ‘Art Centre
46 (UPPER LEFT) The Finke River, Ormiston Gorge, 2007. Photographer Anna McKenzie. Image
courtesy of Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra ‘Many Hands ‘Art Centre
(LOWER RIGHT) Peter Tjutjatja Taylor( born 1940-), Ormiston Gorge on the Finke River, West
MacDonnell Ranges, 2007, watercolour on paperboard. Image courtesy of Ngurratjuta Iltja
Ntjarra ‘Many Hands ‘Art Centre
47 Kevin Namatjira ( born 1958-), Haast Bluff, Near Papunya, My Home Country, 2009, watercolour
on paperboard. Image courtesy of Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra ‘Many Hands ‘Art Centre
Kevin Namatjira drawing with chalk on the back-wall panorama for the Big Hart Belvoir Street
Theatre production of Namatjira October 2010
48 (UPPER LEFT) Art Gallery of New South Wales watercolour workshop , ART + Soul, October 2010
(left to right) Elton Wirri, Kevin Namatjira, Gloria Pannka and Ivy Pareroultja
(LOWER RIGHT) Warwick Thornton, Ivy Pareroultja and Lenie Namatjira, Rrutjumpa (Mount
Sonder), Art+Soul production still, 2009 Hibiscus Films
Bibliography:
Amadio, Nadine (ed.), Albert Namatjira: the life and work of an Australian painter,
Macmillan, South Melbourne, Vic., 1986.
Croft, Brenda 2009. “Albert’s Gift”, in “The Legacy of Albert Namatjira”, in Australian Aboriginal
Art, Issue 1, March, April, May 2009, B5 Media, Darlinghurst NSW, pp. 72–75. This is an
edited version of ‘Albert’s gift’, which was originally written for, and reproduced in its
entirety in Indigenous art: Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of Western
Australia, Perth WA, pp. 76–93.
Batty, Joyce D. Namatjira: wanderer between two worlds, Hodder and Stoughton, Melbourne,
1963.
Brackenreg, John, Central Australian Artist: Albert Namatjira, Legend press, Sydney, 1984.
Byrnes, Mona, Albert Namatjira, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, 1984.
Brooks, David, for Mpwarntwe people, The Arrernte landscape of Alice Springs, Institute
for Aboriginal Development, IAD Press, Alice Springs, 1991.
French, Alison 2002. Seeing the Centre. The Art of Albert Namatjira 1902–1959, NGA,
Canberra ACT.
Green, Jenny 1988. Pmere. Country in Mind. Arrernte Landscape Painters, Tangentyere Land
Counci, Alice Springs NT.
Hardy, Jane; Megaw JVS; Megaw, MR, (eds.) 1992. The Heritage of Namatjira: the
Watercolourists of Central Australia, William Heineman, Australia, Melbourne Vic.
Hall, V C, Namatjira of the Aranda, Rigby, Adelaide, 1962
Hoorn, Jeannette, ‘Hermannsburg’, in Jane Clark and Felicity Druce (eds), Violet Teague,
1872 –1951, Beagle Press, Roseville, NSW, 1999, pp. 98–9.
Jones, Philip 2007. Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers,
Wakefield Press, Adelaide, SA, pp. 304–335.
Leslie, Donna. 2008. Aboriginal art: creativity and assimilation, Macmillan Art Publishing
Melbourne, Vic.
Mackenzie, Andrew, Albert Namatjira, 1902-1959: a biographical sketch, Oz Publishing,
Brisbane 1988
McLean, Ian 1998. White Aborigines: Identity Politics in Australian Art, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge UK, pp. 98–104.
Megaw, M. Ruth (ed.), 1991. The Heritage of Namatjira. Australian Exhibitions Touring Agency,
Melbourne (exhibition catalogue, tour dates 1991 and 1993).
Mountford, Charles P, The art of Albert Namatjira, Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne,
1944.
Roenfeldt, David et al, Western Arrarnta Picture Dictionary, IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT,
2006
Smith, Terry 2002. Transformations in Australian art: Volume 2, The Twentieth Century—
Modernism and Aboriginality, Craftsman House, St Leonards, NSW.
Strehlow, TGH, Rex Battarbee: artist and founder of the Aboriginal art movement in
central. Australia, Legend Press, Sydney, 1956, p. 20.
William Dargie (1912 -2007), Portrait of Albert Namatjira, 1956, oil on canvas, Queensland Art
Gallery
Noel Counihan (1913-1986), Albert Namatjira, 1959, after, stencil screen print from one screen
taken from original linocut 2nd state. National Gallery of Australia
Rex Battarbee (1893 -1973) Not titled landscape, 1936, watercolour over pencil on paper. National
Gallery of Australia