Albert Namatjira died more than six decades ago but his art is suddenly enjoying demand
In the 1950s, Albert Namatjira’s iconic watercolor art was often sold on the streets of Alice Springs for just a few shillings.
Key points:
- Demand for Albert Namatjira’s artwork has soared, with one work worth over $120,000
- A prominent art owner said people realized how important an Arrente male artist was
- A member of the Namatjira family said that his legacy has inspired many others to follow in the artist’s footsteps
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article may contain images of people who have died.
Over the years and after his death in 1959, his paintings of the vast Central Australian landscape became highly sought after, with collectors around the world clamoring to own a work.
Now there is renewed interest in the artist Arrernte and the father of the Hermannsburg School with his record-setting work.
Glen Helen Gorge in Namatjira on paper sold for more than $120,000 when it went up for auction in Melbourne earlier this year.
In July his painting The Granseur – Mount Sonda sold in Adelaide for $54,000, an unprecedented price of nearly $10,000 above expectations.
“Namatjira’s works don’t appear very often, but they … carry enormous value,” said Jim Elder, auctioneer and owner at Elder Fine Art in Adelaide.
“I don’t think the people of Alice Springs would agree with what actually happened to his job.
“He needs to be taken more seriously and I think at this point people are realizing how important he is as an artist.”
Born and raised in the remote Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission, southwest of Alice Springs, Namatjira was taught the art of watercolor by visiting European artist Rex Battarbee and strongly encouraged by the local priest.
His status grew rapidly in Australia, and as a result became the first Indigenous person to gain full citizenship, allowing him to vote and purchase alcohol in 1957.
Elder says the entire Australian art market is enjoying a buoyancy of late, but Namatjira’s work has far outpaced market trends.
“What drives all this is availability, of course, and people are increasingly convinced of where this artist really is in the history of Australian Art,” he said.
“People wonder today, if Namatjira didn’t come and Rex Battarbee didn’t come and find her, the whole flow of painting wouldn’t exist.
“We owe, a huge debt, to the likes of Albert Namatjira, Rex Battarbee and the Hermannsburg School of artists.”
Legacy paints a path for others
Selma Coulthard was just a child when Albert Namatjira died.
He doesn’t remember much about his funeral, but says seeing his art left him in no doubt about what he wanted to do when he grew up.
Now an accomplished artist at the Namatjira School of Art in Central Australia, Ms Coulthard has spent the last three decades running the art movement that Namatjira first inspired in Hermannsburg many years ago.
“We’ve tried to revive his image,” he said.
“Some people don’t remember it because most of the kids are gone, so we’re relatives who actually do their job and talk about their lives here.”
He said Namatjira, widely regarded as the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation, has always maintained his ties to family and country.
“His relationship with the whole tribal family. It doesn’t matter who it is called family,” he said.
“He is a very famous person and his mind is always there because he loves to paint.
“He puts what he sees, and it shows, because his love for his country – the land too – is in the paintings he makes.”
After decades of struggle, the copyright for Namatjira’s work was returned to his family in 2017 after being sold by the General Trustee in 1983 for $8,500.
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