View source for Albert Namatjira

{{Short description|Australian painter (1902–1959)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox artist
| image         = Albert Namatjira portrait.jpg
| image_size    = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = Namatjira, {{circa|1950}}
| birth_name    = Elea Namatjira
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=yes|1902|07|28}}
| birth_place   = [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission]], Northern Territory of South Australia (now Northern Territory), Australia
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1959|08|08|1902|07|28}}
| death_place   = [[Alice Springs]], Northern Territory, Australia
| nationality   = Western Arrernte
| spouse        = Rubina
| field         = [[Watercolour painting]], [[contemporary Indigenous Australian art]]
| awards        = [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal|Queen's Coronation Medal]]
}}
[[File:Whittaker_070_J.jpg|thumb|Albert Namatjira painting in Alice Springs (Mparntwe), c.1957]]
'''Albert Namatjira''' ({{IPA|aus|namacɪra|pron}}; born '''Elea Namatjira'''; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an [[Arrernte people|Arrernte]] painter from the [[MacDonnell Ranges]] in [[Central Australia]], widely considered one of the most notable Australian artists. As a pioneer of [[contemporary Indigenous Australian art]], he was arguably one of the most famous Indigenous Australians of his generation. He was the first [[Indigenous Australian art|Aboriginal artist]] to receive popularity from a wide Australian audience.<ref name="atoa">{{cite book |last1=Splatt |first1=William |last2=Burton |first2=Barbara |date=1977 |title=A Treasury of Australian Landscape Painting |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1417435/Details |publisher=Rigby |page=46 |isbn=}}</ref>

A member of the [[Western Arrernte]] people, Namatjira was born and raised at the remote [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission]], 126&nbsp;km west-southwest from [[Alice Springs]]. He showed interest in art from an early age but it was not until 1934 (aged 32) and under the guidance of [[Rex Battarbee]] that he began to paint seriously. Namatjira's richly detailed, [[Western art]]-influenced [[watercolour]]s of the [[outback]] departed significantly from the abstract designs and symbols of traditional [[Indigenous Australian art|Aboriginal art]], and inspired the [[Hermannsburg School]] of painting. He became a household name in Australia and reproductions of his works hung in many homes throughout the nation.

In 1956, a portrait of Namatjira by [[William Dargie]] became the first of an Aboriginal person to win the [[Archibald Prize]]. Namatjira was awarded the [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal|Queen's Coronation Medal]] in 1953, and was honoured with an Australian postage stamp in 1968.

Namatjira was the first recorded [[Northern Territory]] Aboriginal person to be freed from restrictions that made Aboriginal people [[Ward (law)|wards of the state]] when he was granted full rights of citizenship in 1957.<ref name=Prodger>{{cite news |last1=Prodger |first1=Michael |title=Outsider of the Outback |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/art-design/2023/02/albert-namatjira-outsider-australia |access-date=10 February 2023 |work=New Statesman |date=7 Feb 2023}}</ref> This gave him the right to vote in national, state and territory elections, gave him freedom of movement and freed him from restrictions on buying [[alcoholic beverage|alcohol]]; but, in the Northern Territory, he still had limited land rights. However, Namatjira remained poorly treated by the government; he was sentenced to prison after leaving a bottle of [[rum]] on the back seat of his car, which was likely taken and consumed by a man who had then drunkenly beaten and killed his own wife. Public and international outcry intervened in the liability ruling and Namatjira instead served less than two months in a native reserve in [[Papunya]].<ref name=Prodger/> He continued to live in Papunya with his wife, until he died of heart disease in an Alice Springs hospital in 1959.<ref name="howtotalkaboutarthistory.com">{{Cite web |date=2015-09-09 |title=Artist Feature: Who was Albert Namatjira? |url=http://www.howtotalkaboutarthistory.com/artist-feature/artist-feature-who-was-albert-namatjira/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225133705/http://www.howtotalkaboutarthistory.com/artist-feature/artist-feature-who-was-albert-namatjira/ |archive-date=2021-02-25 |access-date=2021-12-21 |website=How To Talk About Art History |language=en}}</ref>

Described as a "monumental figure" within [[Australian art]], Namatjira is considered one of the most talented Arrernte artists to have lived.<ref name="howtotalkaboutarthistory.com"/> As one of the foremost painters of the Hermannsburg movement, he blended indigenous landscapes and Western-style painting techniques to "bring central Australia to life, for thousands who had never seen it for themselves."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-02|title=The loss and return of Namatjira's legacy|url=https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2017/11/02/albert-namatjira-loss-return-artistic-legacy/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=News|language=en-AU}}</ref> His legacy lives on through international critical acclaim, the naming of [[Electoral division of Namatjira|his homeland's electorate]] after him, and his artistically inclined descendants. They form the artistic and memorial collective the [[Namatjira Project|Namatjira project]], which includes his [[Art Gallery of South Australia|Ramsay Prize]] and [[Archibald Prize]]-winning great-grandson [[Vincent Namatjira]].<ref>{{Cite news|author=Guardian Staff|date=2020-09-28|title=Vincent Namatjira's 'cheeky revenge': the Archibald prize winner's past work – in pictures|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/sep/28/vincent-namatjiras-cheeky-revenge-the-archibald-prize-winners-past-work-in-pictures|access-date=2021-12-21|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

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==Early life==
He was born at [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg Mission]], Ntaria, in [[Alice Springs]] in 1902, the son of Jonathan Namatjira . They were [[Western Arrernte]] people.<ref name=adb>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography | last=Kleinert | first=Sylvia | title=Namatjira, Albert (1902–2000)  | date=2000 |id2=namatjira-albert-elea-11217 | access-date=5 April 2020|quote= first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, (MUP), 2000}}</ref>

Namatjira was raised on the Hermannsburg Mission and baptised after his parents' adoption of [[Christianity]]. He was born as Elea, but once baptised, they changed his name to Albert. As a child, he sketched what he saw around him. After a western-style upbringing on the mission, including attending the school and living in a [[dormitory]], separated from his parents, at the age of 13 Namatjira returned to the bush for [[initiation]] and was exposed to traditional culture and initiated as a member of the Arrernte community<ref name=adb/> (in which he was to eventually become an elder).

When he was 18 years old, he left the mission and married his wife Ilkalita, a [[Gugadja|Kukatja]] woman, who was [[baptism|christened]] Rubina upon their return to Hermannsburg. They had five sons and three daughters.<ref name=adb/>

His wife, like his father's wife, was from the wrong [[skin group]] and he violated the law of his people by marrying outside the [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|classificatory kinship system]]. In 1928 he was ostracised for several years in which he worked as a [[camel driver]] and saw much of [[Central Australia]], which he was later to depict in his paintings.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Seeing the centre: The art of Albert Namatjira 1902–1959|url=https://nga.gov.au/namatjira/index.cfm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-01|website=NGA National Gallery of Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121001715/https://nga.gov.au/namatjira/index.cfm |archive-date=21 November 2018 }}</ref> He also worked as a [[blacksmith]], carpenter and stockman, at the mission and at the surrounding [[cattle station]]s.<ref name=adb/>

He was a cousin of [[Aboriginal country music]] star [[Gus Williams (musician)|Gus Williams]], and is credited with bringing music into Williams' life.<ref name=hofbio>{{cite web | title= Gus Williams, 2000 | website=Australian Country Music Hall of Fame | url=https://ehive.com/collections/200851/objects/1465182/gus-williams-oam | access-date=8 November 2022}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Albert Namatjira signing autographs.jpg|thumb|Namatjira signing autographs, {{circa|1950}}]]
Namatjira was introduced to western-style painting through a charity art exhibition in 1933, which raised the money to bring fresh water to his hometown of Hermannsburg.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Violet Teague |vauthors=Clark J, Druce F, Butler R, Callaway A, Hoorn J, Macnaughtan J, Neville R, Peers J, Vernon K, Ward L |publisher=The Beagle Press |date=17 July 1999 |isbn=0947349294 |location=7 Shirley Road Roseville NSW |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref> The exhibition was run by [[Violet Teague]], whom Namatjira admired enough to name his daughter after, and her sister Una.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Albert Namatjira: the rich heritage of our desert earth painter – AHR |url=https://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2007/12/01/albert-namatjira-the-rich-heritage-of-our-desert-earth-painter/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In 1934, Namatjira met [[Rex Battarbee]] and John Gardner, who had an exhibition at his mission. Battarbee returned to the area in the winter of 1936 to paint the landscape, and Namatjira, expressing an interest in learning to paint, acted as his cameleer and guide to show him local scenic areas.

Namatjira started painting in a unique style. His landscapes normally highlighted both the rugged geological features of the land in the background, and the distinctive Australian flora in the foreground with very old, stately and majestic [[white gum]] trees surrounded by twisted scrub. His work had a high quality of illumination showing the gashes of the land and the twists in the trees. His colours were similar to the [[ochre]]s that his ancestors had used to depict the same landscape, but his style was appreciated by Europeans because it met the aesthetics of western art.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In his early career, Namatjira's work included [[tjuringa]] (sacred object) designs, biblical themes and [[figurative art|figurative subjects]], and he also carved and painted various artefacts.<ref name=adb/>

In 1937 [[Friedrich Albrecht]], superintendent of Hermannsburg, took ten of Namatjira's watercolours with him to a Lutheran conference at [[Nuriootpa, South Australia]], and Battarbee put three of his paintings in an exhibition with the [[Royal South Australian Society of Arts]] in [[Adelaide]]. In 1938, Namatjira held his first solo exhibition in Melbourne.<ref name=adb/>

He became the first prominent Aboriginal artist to work in a contemporary western style, and thus regarded as an example of [[cultural assimilation|assimilation]]. In 1944 he was included in ''[[Who's Who in Australia]]''.<ref name=adb/>

Subsequent exhibitions in [[Sydney]] and Adelaide also sold out.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} His work garnered wide acclaim, both in Australia and in other countries. [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] became one of his more notable fans and he was awarded the [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal|Queen's Coronation Medal]] in 1953 and met her in [[Canberra]] in 1954. He was elected an honorary member of the [[Royal Art Society of New South Wales]] in 1955.<ref name=adb/>

Not only did his own art become widely recognised, but a painting of him by [[William Dargie]] won the [[Archibald Prize]] in 1956,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/1956/|title=Archibald Prize|date=1956|website=AGNSW prize record|publisher=Art Gallery of New South Wales|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> the first painting of an Aboriginal person to win the prize.<ref>[http://www.artistsfootsteps.com/html/Dargie_namatjira.htm Namatjira  profile], artistsfootsteps.com; accessed 26 July 2015.</ref>

==Artworks, style and critical reception==

[[File:Namatjira Landscape.jpg|thumb|Central [[Outback|Australian Landscape]]]]
Namatjira's artworks were colourful and varied depictions of the Australian landscape. 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 [[Corymbia aparrerinja|ghost gum]] in ''Ghost Gum Glen Helen'' ({{circa|1945}}–49).

His unique style of painting was denounced soon after his death by some critics as being a product of his assimilation into western culture, rather than his own connection to his subject matter or his natural style.<ref name="ADBNamatjira">{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Kleinert|first1=Sylvia|title=Namatjira, Albert (Elea) (1902–1959)|id2=namatjira-albert-elea-11217|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="8PercentNamatjira" /> This view has, however, been largely abandoned.<ref name="MHNamatjiraBio">{{cite web|title=Albert Namatjira - Australia's most famous aboriginal artist|url=https://manyhandsart.com.au/about/albert-namatjira/|website=Iltja Ntjarra|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="ABCNamatjiraFacts">{{cite web|title=Albert Namatjira|url=http://www.abc.net.au/btn/v2/australians/namat.htm|website=www.abc.net.au|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="NGANamatjira">{{cite web|last1=National Gallery of Australia|title=Seeing the centre|url=https://nga.gov.au/namatjira/|website=nga.gov.au|access-date=27 July 2017|archive-date=5 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005113359/https://nga.gov.au/namatjira/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although Namatjira's paintings appear similar to conventional European landscapes, his work was imbued with his feeling for country and [[Australian Aboriginal sacred site|sacred sites]]. He used repetition, intricate patterns and high horizons to blend the styles of the two worlds he lived in.<ref name=adb/>

The [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]] website quotes George Alexander, coordinator of Contemporary Art Programmes:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/collections/george-alexander|website=UWA Publishing|title=George Alexander|access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref><ref name=agnswbio/>
{{Blockquote|text=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 (Northern Territory)|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.|author=Alexander, George|source=''Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia'' (2014)}}

In 2022, Namatjira's work enjoyed a surge in popularity that exceeded the general increased interest in Australian art at this time. ''Glen Helen Gorge'' sold for more than {{AUD|120,000}} in [[Melbourne]], and in July ''The Granseur – Mount Sonda'' fetched {{AUD|54,000}} in Adelaide. The latter was a record price, achieving nearly {{AUD|10,000}} more than had been expected.<ref>{{cite web | last=Robinson | first=Lee | title=Albert Namatjira's work hitting new highs on the art market as demand surges  | website=ABC News| publisher= [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=2 August 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/albert-namatjira-art-in-hot-demand/101281690 | access-date=3 August 2022}}</ref>

==Later life ==
[[File:Albert Namatjira refuelling for a trip to Alice Springs.jpg|thumb|Namatjira on his way to [[Alice Springs]]]]
[[File:Namatjira govt house sydney.jpg|thumb|Namatjira outside [[Government House, Sydney]], c.&nbsp;1947]]

Due to his wealth, Namatjira soon found himself the subject of [[Humbug (Aboriginal)|humbugging]], a ritualised form of begging. Arrernte are expected to share everything they own, and as Namatjira's income grew, so did his extended family. At one time he was singlehandedly providing for over 600 people with financial support.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} To ease the burden on his strained resources, Namatjira sought to lease a cattle station to benefit his extended family. Originally granted, the lease was subsequently rejected because the land was part of a [[Soldier Settlement Scheme|returned servicemen's ballot]], and also because he had no ancestral claim on the property. He then tried to build a house in [[Alice Springs]], but was cheated in his land dealings. The land he was sold was on a flood plain and was unsuitable for building. The [[Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)|Minister for Territories]], [[Paul Hasluck]], offered him free land in a reserve on the outskirts of Alice Springs, but this was rejected, and Namatjira and his family took up residence in a squalid shanty at Morris Soak, a dry creek bed some distance from Alice Springs which is now the location of one of the [[Alice Springs Town Camps|town camps]]. Despite the fact that he was held as one of Australia's greatest artists, Namatjira was living in poverty. His plight became a media ''[[cause célèbre]]'', resulting in a wave of public outrage.

In 1957 the government exempted Namatjira and his wife from the restrictive legislation that applied to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.{{Clarify|date=August 2021}}{{Clarify|date=August 2021}}

Namatjira was encouraged to apply for full rights of citizenship at 55 years of age,<ref name="National Museum of Australia 2019">{{cite web | title=Albert Namatjira and citizenship, 1958–59 | website=National Museum of Australia | date=23 October 2019 | url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/indigenous-rights/civil-rights/albert-namatjira-citizenship | access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> allowing him to vote, own land, build a house and buy [[alcoholic beverages|alcohol]] unlike other Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory. He was then exempt from classification as an 'Aboriginal' for the purposes of the ''[[Welfare Ordinance 1953]]''.<ref name=summers/> This did not mean that he was legally ''not'' an Aboriginal, as some sources mistakenly suggest. However, his adult children and other relatives remained as [[Wards of the state|"wards"]] under the ''Welfare Ordinance 1953''. Although Albert and Rubina were legally allowed to drink alcohol, his Aboriginal family and friends were not. This artificial social divide and the Arrernte culture that expected him to share everything he owned brought Namatjira into conflict with the law.<ref name=agnswbio>{{cite web | title=Albert Namatjira  | website=Art Gallery NSW: The Collection|first=George|last=Alexander  | url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/namatjira-albert/ | access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref>

When an Aboriginal woman, Fay Iowa, was killed at Morris Soak, Namatjira was held responsible by [[stipendiary magistrate]], Jim Lemaire, for bringing alcohol into the camp. He was reprimanded at the coronial inquest. In the Northern Territory at that time, it was against the law to supply alcohol to an Aboriginal person. Namatjira was charged with leaving a bottle of [[rum]] in a place, i.e. on a car seat, where a clan brother and fellow Hermannsburg artist Henoch Raberaba, could get access to it.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Convicted for an offence under the ''[[Welfare Ordinance 1953]]'', for supplying an Aboriginal (a "ward") with [[liquor]], he was sentenced to six months in prison. Namatjira appealed against the conviction to the [[Supreme Court of the Northern Territory]] (with his defence supported by the [[Council for Aboriginal Rights]] in Victoria<ref>{{cite web | last=Taffe | first=Sue | title=Essay - The Council for Aboriginal Rights (Victoria) | website=[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]|date=11 April 2014 | publisher=[[Australian National University]] | url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/essay/8 | access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref>). The Supreme Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence from six to three months. The [[High Court of Australia]] refused an application to appeal. There was widespread sympathy for Namatjira and negative publicity about the operation of the Ordinance across Australia and abroad.<ref name=summers>{{cite web | series=Research Paper 10 2000-01|title=The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia and Indigenous Peoples 1901-1967|first= John |last=Summers|date= 31 October 2000| website=[[Parliament of Australia]]  | url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp0001/01RP10 | access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref> After the public uproar, the Minister for Territories, Paul Hasluck, intervened and the sentence was served at Papunya Native Reserve. He was released after only serving two months due to medical and humanitarian reasons.
[[File:Whittaker_071_J.jpg|thumb|Albert Namatjira's grave at the Memorial Cemetery in Alice Springs (Mparntwe).]]

===Final years and death===
Despondent after his incarceration, Namatjira continued to live with Rubina in a cottage at [[Papunya]], where he suffered a heart attack. There is evidence that Albert believed that he had the bone pointed at him by a member of Fay Iowa's family (this idea of being "sung" to death was also held by [[Frank Clune]], a popular travel writer, Aboriginal activist and organiser of Albert's whirlwind 1956 trip).{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} After being transferred to Alice Springs hospital, Namatjira astonished his mentor Rex Battarbee by presenting him with three landscapes, with a promise of more to come; a promise unrealised. Namatjira died soon after of heart disease complicated by [[pneumonia]] on 8 August 1959 in Alice Springs.

==Legacy==
[[file:Namatjira0384.jpg|thumb|Albert Namatjira Gallery, Alice Springs]]

===Work===
At the time of his death Namatjira had painted a total of around 2,000 paintings.<ref name="CanberraTimesNamatjira">{{cite news|last1=Grishin|first1=Sasha|title=Albert Namatjira paintings donated to National Gallery of Australia|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-life/albert-namatjira-paintings-donated-to-national-gallery-of-australia-20170720-gxezmw.html|access-date=27 July 2017|work=Canberra Times|date=20 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="8PercentNamatjira">{{cite web|title=Albert Namatjira: Bridging the Divide – The 8 Percent|url=http://the8percent.com/albert-namatjira-bridging-the-divide/|website=the8percent.com|date=7 July 2017|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="IndigenousOzForDummies">{{cite book| last1=Behrendt |first1=Larissa|author1-link= Larissa Behrendt| last2=Fraser|first2=Malcolm|title=Indigenous australia for dummies|date=2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Hoboken, N.J.| isbn=9781118308431| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4XRec9r-rMC&q=albert+namatjira+2000+paintings&pg=PT504| access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref> He is hailed today as one of the greatest Australian artists and a pioneer for Aboriginal rights.<ref name="MHNamatjiraBio"/><ref name="ABCNamatjiraFacts"/><ref name="NGANamatjira"/> Namatjira's work is on public display in some of Australia's major art galleries. The Art Gallery of New South Wales now displays a number of Namatjira's work,<ref name=agnswbio/> although [[Hal Missingham]], then Director of the gallery, initially rejected his work, saying: "We'll consider his work when it comes up to scratch".<ref name="WinsorNewton">{{cite web|title=Australia: From the Royal Academy to the Outback| url=http://www.winsornewton.com/row/discover/articles-and-inspiration/australia-from-the-royal-academy-to-the-outback-row| website=www.winsornewton.com|access-date=27 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Two years before his death, part of Namatjira's [[copyright]] was sold to a company in exchange for royalties. After his death, Albert Namatjira's copyright was sold by the [[public trustee]] in 1983 for {{AUD|8,500}}, despite Namatjira's will leaving his copyright to his widow and children.<ref>{{cite news|title='It was a mistake': official who sold Albert Namatjira's copyright|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-09/albert-namatjira-copyright-sale-a-mistake/8335624|access-date=9 March 2017|work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|date=9 March 2017|language=en-AU}}</ref> The copyright was returned to the family's Albert Namatjira Trust in an October 2017 deal enabled by a donation by philanthropist [[Dick Smith (entrepreneur)|Dick Smith]], in the name of art dealer John Brackenreg, who was seen as having acquired the rights to Namatjira's art in 1957 in an act of exploitation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-14/albert-namatjira-copyright-returned-to-family/9050550|title=Albert Namatjira's family regains copyright of his artwork after Dick Smith intervenes|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|first=Isabel|last=Dayman|date=15 October 2017|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>

===Official===
Namatjira was honoured on [[postage stamp]]s issued by [[Australia Post]] in 1968,<ref>[http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0009010.jpg Stamp of Albert Namatjira]. 5c Stamp. www.australianstamp.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013</ref> again in 1993 with examples of his work,<ref>Albert Namatjira [http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0021620.jpg "Ghost Gum"]. 45c, 1993 Stamp: www.australianstamp.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013</ref><ref>Albert Namatjira [http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0021630.jpg "Across the plain to Mount Giles"]. 45c, 1993 Stamp: www.australianstamp.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013</ref> and in the Namatjira Centenary stamp series in 2002.<ref name=chah/>

The Northern Territory [[electoral division of Namatjira]], which surrounds [[Alice Springs]], was renamed in 2012 from [[MacDonnell Region|MacDonnell]], in honour of Namatjira.<ref name="ElectoralDivision">{{cite news|title=Namatjira - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/nt-election-2016/guide/nama/|access-date=27 July 2017|work=ABC News|language=en-AU}}</ref>

State Route 2, west of Alice Springs, is named [[Namatjira Drive]] after Namatjira.

In January 2013, two gum trees that featured prominently in Namatjira's watercolours were destroyed in an [[arson]] attack, while they were in the process of being heritage-listed, in an "appalling and a tragic act of cultural vandalism".<ref>Mercer, Phil (4 January 2013). [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20907588 "Australia ghost gum trees in Alice Springs 'arson attack'"], [[BBC News]]. Retrieved 21 January 2013.</ref> In 2015, the Twin Gums site was again nominated for [[heritage listing]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Sibenaler | first=David | title=Iconic art site up for heritage listing | website=NT News | date=27 October 2015 | url=https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/centralian-advocate/namatjira-twin-gums-site-in-alice-put-up-for-heritage-listing/news-story/404fd63a5a3b095dd9b520e2d1ae285c | access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref>

===In the arts===
A number of biographical films have been made about Namatjira (at least three before his death<ref name=chah>{{cite web | title=Namatjira, Albert (1902 - 1959 ) | website=Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria | date=7 April 2015 | url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/namatjira-albert.html | access-date=6 April 2020|quote=Source: Australia Post web site, July 2002.}}</ref>), including the 1947 documentary ''[[Namatjira the Painter]]''.<ref name="NamatjiraDocumentary">{{cite news|title="Herald" Week-End Magazine Filming the life of Australia's famous aboriginal artist – Suggestion for approaching Mr. Chifley with a low bow – The wreek of the malabar, Easter 1931.|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18008415|access-date=27 July 2017|work=Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)|date=29 March 1947|pages=10}}</ref><ref name="NamatjiraCopyrightDocu">{{cite news|title=Albert Namatjira's family screens documentary highlighting copyright plight|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-23/namatjira-family-screens-film-on-copyright-plight/7957774|access-date=27 July 2017|work=ABC News|date=23 October 2016|language=en-AU}}</ref>

Namatjira has been the subject of numerous songs. Country star [[Slim Dusty]] was the first artist to record a tribute song, "Namatjira", in the 1960s, and [[Rick and Thel Carey]] followed up with their tribute "The Stairs That Namatjira Climbed" in 1963. Other tributes include [[John Williamson (singer)|John Williamson]]'s "Raining on the Rock" from his 1986 album ''[[Mallee Boy]]'' and "The Camel Boy" from ''[[Chandelier of Stars]]'' (2005); "Albert Namatjira" by the Australian band [[Not Drowning, Waving]], featured on their 1993 album, ''Circus'', and [[Midnight Oil]]'s song "[[Truganini (song)|Truganini]]" of the same year; the famous patriotic song "[[I Am Australian]]"; [[Archie Roach]]'s song, "Native Born"; and the reconciliation song, "Namatjira", written by Geoff Drummond and included on the politically activist album, ''The Chess Set'' released by Pat Drummond in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.patdrummond.net/Pat%20Drummond%20Releases.html#fromChessSet|title=Pat Drummond Releases}}</ref>

He appeared as himself in the feature film ''[[The Phantom Stockman]]''.<ref name="phantom">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-lee-robinson-chips-rafferty-story-part-one-the-phantom-stockman/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 June 2025|access-date=1 June 2025|title=The Lee Robinson-Chips Rafferty Story Part One: The Phantom Stockman}}</ref>

The [[Namatjira Project]] was a community cultural development project launched in 2009 that included an award-winning theatre production by [[Big hART]] focusing on Namatjira's life and work.<ref name="BighART">{{cite web|title=Home |url=http://www.namatjira.bighart.org/|website=Big hART Namatjira Project|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="SMHBighART">{{cite web|title=The skill of Namatjira's grandson |url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/the-skill-of-namatjiras-grandson/2006/10/31/1162278141730.html|website= [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=November 2006|access-date=27 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

On 28 July 2017, Google commemorated Namatjira's 115th birthday with a featured [[Google Doodle|Doodle]] for Australian users, acknowledging his substantial contributions to the art and culture of Australia.<ref name="GoogleDoodle">{{cite web|title=Albert (Elea) Namatjira's 115th Birthday|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/albert-elea-namatjiras-115th-birthday/|website=www.google.com|access-date=27 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===Descendants===
A number of Albert Namatjira's descendants paint at the ''Iltja Ntjarra - Many Hands'' art centre in Alice Springs.<ref name="MHNamatjiraFamilyTree">{{cite web|title=Albert Namatjira Family Tree diagram – Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre|url=https://manyhandsart.com.au/about/albert-namatjira-family-tree-diagram/|website=Iltja Ntjarra|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="MHListOfArtists">{{cite web|title=Artists – Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre|url=https://manyhandsart.com.au/artists/|website=Iltja Ntjarra|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref>

[[Vincent Namatjira]], Albert Namatjira's great-grandson, is a well-known artist in his own right, winning the {{AUD|100,000}} [[Ramsay Art Prize]] in 2019.<ref>{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Matthew | title=Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira wins $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize | website=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=24 May 2019 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-24/ramsay-art-prize-winner-announced-in-adelaide/11145064 | access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref>  Vincent's 2014 series, ''Albert's Story'', reflects on Albert Namatjira's life and legacy. About the series, Vincent has stated: "I hope my grandfather would be quite proud, maybe smiling down on me; because I won't let him go. I just keep carrying him on, his name and our families' stories."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/highlight-vincent-namatjira-albert-and-vincent/|title=Albert and Vincent Namatjira|last=Mclean|first=Bruce|date=1 May 2015|website=Queensland Art Gallery|access-date=3 September 2019}}</ref> The series comprises 13 artworks, telling the story of Albert's life.<ref name=book>{{cite web | last=Lewis-Jones | first=Marjorie | title=Albert Namatjira | website=South Sydney Herald | date=26 November 2021 | url=https://southsydneyherald.com.au/albert-namatjira/ | access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref> Vincent's work was also shortlisted for the [[Archibald Prize]] in [[List of Archibald Prize 2017 finalists|2017]], [[List of Archibald Prize 2018 finalists|2018]] and [[List of Archibald Prize 2019 finalists|2019]] and won the prize in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |first=Stephanie  |last=Convery  |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/25/archibald-prize-2020-winner-portrait-vincent-namatjira-adam-goodes |title=Archibald prize 2020: Vincent Namatjira named winner for portrait of Adam Goodes |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=2020-09-25 |access-date=2021-01-03}}</ref> Vincent's 2021 book about his great-grandfather, featuring artworks from ''Albert's Story'', was shortlisted for a 2022 [[Australian Book Industry Award]] in  the "Small Publishers' Children's Book of the Year" category.<ref>{{cite web | title=Book shortlists announced for 2022 ABIAs | website= Australian Publishers Association | date=23 May 2022 | url=https://www.publishers.asn.au/Web/Latest/APANews/20220523_ABIA_Book_Awards_Shortlist.aspx | access-date=26 May 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Namatjira Project]]
*[[Elliott Ronald Bull]], aboriginal artist whose works have often been compared to those of Namatjira.
*[https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/first-australians/other-resources-about-first-australians/albert-namatjira Records relating to Albert Namatjira held by the National Archives]
*[https://navigator.nt.gov.au/page/keywordsearch_item_details.php?ss=namatjira&sagency=on&sseries=on&sitems=on&sfunction=series&sunitid=NTRS%202277&sidnum=2277&sbreadcrumb=ks,ksSumRes,ksRes Welfare files of Albert Namtjira at Library & Archives NT]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Albert Namatjira}}
*{{cite web | publisher=National Gallery of Australia| title=Albert Namatjira: Mt Hermannsburg, Finke River  | url=https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=103868 }}
*[http://www.nga.gov.au/namatjira/ Seeing the Centre: The art of Albert Namatjira 1902-1959], a [[National Gallery of Australia]] travelling and online exhibition
*[http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-an23751666 Albert Namatjira photograph collection] at the [[National Library of Australia]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110227022552/http://www.namatjira.bighart.org/namatjira/albert-namatjira-%E2%80%93-history-background-and-biography/ Namatjira BIG hART]: History, background and biography.
*[https://artark.com.au/pages/albert-namatjira Albert Namatjira, Life and Art] ART ARK®

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author-last=Namatjira |author-first=Vincent |title=Albert Namatjira |place=Broome |publisher=Magabala |year=2021 |isbn= 9781925936216}}

{{Central and Western Desert artists}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Namatjira, Albert}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal artists]]
[[Category:Australian landscape painters]]
[[Category:Artists from the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Australian Lutherans]]
[[Category:Arrernte people]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century Lutherans]]
[[Category:Australian male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian painters]]
[[Category:Australian modern painters]]