Early Life
Albert Namatjira, Born Elea Namatjira in 1902 at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission in Ntaria near Alice Springs, son of Namatjira and Ljukuta and where Western Arrernte people.
Namatjira was raised on the Hermannsburg Mission and baptised after his parents converted to Christianity, changing his name from Elea to Albert.
As a young child, he sketched what was around him.
Namatjira had a very western-style upbringing, including being separated from his parents while living in a dormitory.
However, he returned to the bush for his initiation when he was 13, exposing him to traditional culture and initiating him as a member of the Arrernte Community.
At age 18, he left the mission and married his wife, Ilkalita, a Kukatja woman who was christened on their return to the Hermannsburg, changing her name to Rubina.
Namatjira and Rubina had five children and three daughters together.
Like his father’s wife, Namatjira wife was from the wrong skin group. Thus, violating the law of his people by marrying outside the classificatory kinship system.
Because of this, he was ostracised for several years.
He worked as a camel driver, blacksmith, carpenter, and stockman during this time, seeing much of Central Australia that he would later depict in his artworks. He also was Encouraged by the mission authorities to produce mulga-wood plaques with pokerwork designs.
And in 1932, Constable W. MacKinnon commissioned Namatjira to make a dozen oval mulga plaques featuring his camel patrol.
Formative Years
Namatjira was introduced to the Western art style through two painters, Rex Battarbee and John Gardner, from Melbourne.
They visited Hermannsburg on painting trips in 1932, speaking of “a Young aboriginal man visiting their camp on several occasions showing great interest in what they were doing”, and in 1934 Rex and John held an exhibition of their artworks in the local schoolhouse.
After seeing the exhibition, Namatjira requested some paper, paints and brushes, which initially was not taken seriously.
But, after his persistent requests, the superintendent agreed when Battarbee returned, he would receive his equipment, Battarbee returning to the area in 1936.
And with the permission of the superintendent, Battarbee employed Namatjira as his cameleer and guide, showing him the local scenic areas, including Palm Valley and the MacDonnell Ranges, for a two-month-long painting trip.
Battarbee showing him how to paint watercolours, was astonished and inspired by Namatjira’s natural talent.
Namatjira’s early works simply signed “Albert”.
Career
And in 1937, Friedrich Albrecht, superintendent of Hermannsburg, took ten of Namatjira’s watercolours with him to a Lutheran conference at Nuriootpa, and Battarbee exhibited three of Namatjira’s works with the Royal South Australian Society of Arts.
Namatjira and Battarbee went on an expedition in 1938, where he taught Namatjira photography.
And later that year holding his first exhibition at the Fine Art Society Gallery in Melbourne, selling all 41 works within days and held subsequent exhibitions in Sydney and Adelaide, gaining wide acclaim both in Australia and abroad.
One of his more notable fans was Queen Elizabeth II, who awarded Namatjira the Queen’s Coronation Medal in 1953 and met Namatjira in Canberra in 1954.
He was also elected in 1955 as an honorary member of the Royal Artist Society of New South Wales.
Namatjira, an Arrernte, was expected to share everything he owned. But, as his wealth grew, so did his extended family, at one point single-handedly providing 600 people with financial support.
To ease his financial burden, he attempted to buy a lease of land but was rejected after initially being approved due to it being part of a return servicemen’s ballot.
He then tried to build a house in Alice Springs but was sold land that was unsuitable for building because it was on floodplains.
The Minister for Territories, Paul Hasluck, offered him land near Alice Springs for free on a reserve, but this was rejected, and Namatjira’s and his family took up residence in a shanty at Morris Soak.
Later Life
Despite being held as one of Australia’s greatest artists, Namatjira was living in poverty, his situation becoming a hot topic in the media resulting in a wave of public outrage.
At 55 years of age, Namatjira was encouraged to become an Australian citizen, and in 1957, he and his wife became the first Aboriginal Australian citizens.
Image Source: Albert Namatjira and his wife. Poignant, Axel (1906-1986). https://hdl.handle.net/10070/439450
As an Australian citizen, he was exempt from classification as an “Aboriginal” under the Welfare Ordinance 1953, as such, he could vote, own land, build a house and buy alcohol.
However, he could not supply alcohol to his adult children and other relatives. They were still listed effectively as wards of the state under the Welfare Ordinance, meaning Namatjira could drink alcohol but not his family and friends.
Namatjira was expected to share everything he owned, which brought him into conflict with the law. When an aboriginal woman Fay Iowa was killed at Morris Soak, Namatjira was held responsible by the Stipendiary Magistrate for bringing alcohol into the camp and was reprimanded.
After moving to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, he had his conviction reduced from six months to 3 months and the court refused an appeal. This conviction brought on widespread sympathy for Namatjira and negative publicity about the operation of the ordinance both at home and abroad.
After serving two months, he was released for medical and humanitarian reasons, returning to Papunya to live with Rubina in a cottage.
Namatjira suffered a heart attack soon after and was transferred to Alice Springs hospital.
He astonished his mentor Battarbee by presenting him with three landscape artworks and promising more to come, a promise not realised, as he died soon after due to heart disease on 8 August 1959.
In Closing
Namatjira was undoubtedly one of Australia’s greatest Aboriginal artists. Some of his early critics claimed that he copied the western painting style but it was later realised all his artworks contained his unique style and connection to the land.
Specifically, in my eyes, the white ghost gums that he painted and the jagged, bright, orange-coloured rocks & caverns.
His watercolours were very vibrant and well thought out, capturing a piece of the picturesque landscape around him. Although Namatjira suffered many difficulties during his lifetime, his legacy has lived on through his paintings, creating over 2000 artworks.
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Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Namatjira
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/namatjira-albert/
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/namatjira-albert-elea-11217
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/albert-namatjira-his-life-and-art