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Elea Namatjira was born on the 28th of July 1902.He was born at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission, near Alice Springs.He belonged to the western group of the Arrernte people.
photograph:Hermannsburg Mission 1933 -
After his third birthday he was baptised after his parents adoption of christianity. Once baptised his name got changed to Albert Namatjira.He was baptised in the little Mission Church at Hermannsburg.
Photograph:Adjantz Waterhole -
When he was 13 he returned to the bush for initiation. he was exposed to traditional culture as a member of the Arrernte community.
photograph:Central Australian Landscape -
At the age of 18 Albert married Ilkalita. Ilkalita was from a different skin group.He disobayed the law of his people by marrying outside the kinship system.
photograph: Albert Namatjira and his wife IIkalita -
Enos was born
photograph: painting by enos -
Oskar was born
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Maisie was born.
photograph:Red Bluff -
Several years
later Ilkalita was baptised and given the name Rubina and their marriage was formally
blessed. Their three children, two boys and a girl were also baptised into the Christian faith, and given the names Enos, Oskar and Maisie.
photograph:Ghost Gum St. Helen -
Date and year unknown. Hazel was born
photograph: one of alberts first paintings -
After marrying Rubina he got banished for seven years because she was from the wrong skin group and became a camel driver in which he saw much of Central Australia.
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During the 1920's, Central Australia was in severe drought which caused many deaths. Including Alberts new born daughter (Nelda) and his twenty one year old brother.
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Ewald was born
photograph:Enos on the dark horse,Ewald on the white horse,Oskar is standing -
Martha was born.
photograph:MacDonnell Range Bluff' -
In 1932 he received his first art job from Constable W.
Mackinnon. It was for twelve wood plaques, Albert
received five shillings for each.
photograph:three of Albert Namatjira's wood plaques -
In the winter months of 1934, watercolourist Rex Battarbee and fellow artist, John Gardner visited the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission, where they held an exhibition of their watercolour paintings of the MacDonnell Ranges.Albert Namatjira studied these paintings and showed an interest in following the work by these artists he was soon given his own box of watercolours and watercolour paper by the Mission manager, Pastor Albrecht.photograph:Haasts bluff
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Albert Namatjira produced his first attempts at watercolour painting In May 1935, one double-sided work he presented as a gift to Mr F. C. G. Wallent, of the Lutheran Mission Board.
photograph:palm valley -
Violet was born,she is the eight child but only lived for five months. Their six remaning children Enos, Oscar, Maisie and Hazel attended the Mission School.
photograph:Hermannsburg mission school in 1947 -
In the winter of 1936, Rex Battarbee returned and provided Albert Namatjira with two months watercolour lessons while on a journey into the heart of the tribal land of the Western Aranda. Albert Namatjira offered Battarbee his services as camel boy in return for painting lessons.Battarbee was amazed at the rapid progress of Albert.
photograph:Rex Battarbee -
Albert first started off using crayons on scraps of carboard, but albert was anxious to learn how to use watercolours properly and within a fortnight he had proceeded to watercolours and had produced a picture of his own.
photograph:Rex Battarbee and Albert -
In March 1937, Pastor Albrecht took ten of Albert Namatjira's watercolours to the Lutheran Synodical Conference held in Nuriootpa, South Australia. Alberts paintings were priced between five and ten shillings each, and while there, Pastor Albrecht sold four of the works and purchased two of the works himself. When he returened to the Mission, Albert was very
happy that he had sold six paintings.Photograph:Kwariitnama -
Rubina gave birth to their ninth child, Keith. Albert, his wife and seven remaining children were now finding life fairly crammed in their small hut at the Mission.
photograph: "Rapid Creek, Darwin" -
On the 1st of August 1938, a number of Albert's watercolour paintings were included in an exhibition of Native Handicrafts that was held in the Lower Town Hall of Melbourne.
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Lady Huntingfield opened Albert's first Solo Exhibition. Titled, 'ALBERT NAMATJIRA. Central Australian Water Colours 1938', this was held at the Fine Art Society Gallery in Melbourne from December 5 to December 17, 1938. R.H. Croll provided the introduction to the catalogue for this exhibition. Forty-one watercolours were exhibited, ranging in price from one to six guineas and all were sold within three
days. These were his first works.photograph:Finke River Gorge -
Albert, his wife and family, set forth on a long walkabout to some of his favourite painting sites.
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While on walkabout, Rubina gave birth to their tenth child, a son, named Maurice. Photograph:Mount Sonder, MacDonnell Ranges
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While on walkabout albert did some more paintings, these were chosen for alberts second solo exhibition.This exhibition was opened by Dr Charles Duguid on the 2nd of November 1939 in the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Gallery in Adelaide.It wasTitled 'Water Colours by Albert Namatjira, a Full-blooded Aboriginal of the Arunta tribe, Central Australia'. Thirty-five watercolours were exhibited at this exhibition, and
twenty of these sold within the first half-hour for prices ranging from -
His third Solo Exhibitionwas titled: 'Water Colours of Central Australia by ALBERT NAMATJIRA (ARUNTA TRIBE)' The exhibition was held at the Myer Mural Hall in Melbourne from April 17 to April 28, 1944. The exhibition was officially opened by Mr A. W. Coles, M.P. Thirty-eight artworks were exhibited, thirty-seven of which were for sale, with prices ranging from ten to thirty-five guineas. The exhibition was very successful, with all the artworks selling very rapidly.
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Another Solo Exhibition was held in Sydney. Titled 'Exhibition of WATER COLOURS Painted in Central Australia By ALBERT NAMATJIRA' this was held in Anthony Horderns' Fine Art Exhibition Gallery and opened by Professor A. P. Elkin. The prices ranged from ten to thirty-five guineas, and within minutes of opening, all forty-four exhibited paintings were sold.
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Another Solo Exhibition, titled 'WATER COLOURS of Central Australia by Albert Namatjira, Arunta Artist' was held from March 12 to March 25, 1946, this time at the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Gallery in Adelaide.The exhibition was opened by Mr A.R. Downer, The watercolour works ranged in price from ten to forty guineas, and within half an hour of the thirty-six of the forty-one exhibited works were sold.
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Albert Namatjira was admitted to Alice Springs Hospital and was diagnosed as having Angina pectoris ( heart problems). His doctor suggested that he should lose weight, and Albert decided to go walkabout with his wife and family, and live 'off the bush' ,and leave his truck at home.photograph:Flowering Shrubs
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His daughter Hazel died at Hermannsburg.
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Martha died at Haast's Bluff in January.
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Albert determined to build a new home in Alice Springs. He was told that this was not allowed, and his application to buy a building block was not granted. The reason given, was the law that 'Aborigines were prohibited from remaining within the town boundaries after dark'.
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Albert Namatjira's works were included in a group exhibition of seven Aranda tribe artists in Anthony Horderns' Fine Art Gallery in Sydney. The title for the exhibition catalogue was 'CATALOGUE OF AN EXHIBITION BY THE ARANDA GROUP. Seven aboriginal water colour artists - Albert Namatjira, Edwin Pareroultja, Otto Pareroultja, Reuben Pareroultja, Richard Moketarinja, Cordula Ebatarinja, Ewald Namatjira'.
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Albert Namatjira was awarded the Queen's Coronation Medal.
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On February 18, he left Canberra to spend a week in Sydney with Frank Clune. While in Sydney, Albert Namatjira opened an exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art at Anthony Hordern & Sons Fine Art Galleries, which included twelve of his own artworks, ranging in price from thirty-five to seventy-five guineas. The exhibition titled 'AN EXHIBITION OF ABORIGINAL ART', also included the works of eight other Aboriginal artists. The exhibit was very sucsessful with all paitings being sold within ten
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Albert Namatjira flew to Darwin and then Sydney and on to Canberra where on February 15 he was presented at Government House to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.photograph: Albert infrount of goverment house
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Albert exhibited some of his artwork in Sydney in a Group exhibition of twelve Aranda artists, and once again the exhibition was successful.
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Albert's father Jonathan fell ill and died.
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In December, albert travelled to Sydney with his son, Keith to pick up a new utility truck that was donated to him by the AMPOL Petroleum Company. While there he sat for a portrait by Sir William Dargie. The portrait won the Archibald Prize that year, and in 1957 was purchased by the Queensland Art Gallery.
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Albert and his wife, Rubina were awarded full Australian Citizenship. 'He could now vote, drink in hotels, take bottled beer home, build a house anywhere he wanted, and demand the basic wage if he ever worked for an employer. But the injustice existed that his children were still considered wards of the State and therefore if he wanted to build a house in Alice Springs, his children could not legally stay with him overnight.'
photograph :the house that albert made -
While in Sydney Albert visited an Aboriginal Girl's Orphanage Home where they were trained to become domestic servants. He then returned and gave them an original painting as a gift
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Albert exhibition opens in Perth
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Albert holds an exhibition with Leonard Long, titled 'RECENT PAINTINGS BY ALBERT NAMATJIRA and LEONARD LONG, PAINTED IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA FOR ARTLOVERS' ithe exhibition was held in Sydney.
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In August 1958, trouble broke out at the Morris Soak camp, when a young Pitjantjatjara woman was killed by her husband. It happend because albert left some achol in his car and the aboriginals broke in and drank it all.At the time that it happened aboriginals were not allowed alchol but since Albert was a great artist and he had full australian citizenship
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On October 7, 1958 Albert was sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for six months,.
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Albert's sentence was later reduced to three months imprisonment at the Papunya Native Reserve on light duties. His doctor and others at the Reserve were greatly concerned about his state of health and he was granted 'full remission for good behaviour and his sentence shortened to two months'.
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Albert was again admitted to the Alice Springs Hospital, this time with a severe injury to his left hand. The bonnet of his new truck had fallen on his hand and injured it so badly that his index finger had to be amputated.
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A major exhibition of thirty-five of his watercolour paintings was held in the Claude Hotchin Gallery at Boans of Perth. The exhibitio was titled 'Catalogue of Originals by ALBERT NAMATJIRA', and the exhibition ran from June 30 to July 12, 1958. The prices of the watercolour works exhibited ranged from fifty-five to one hundred and twenty guineas.
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Albert Namatjira was released from the Papunya Native Reserve on May 19, 1959, but appeared to have lost his will to live. He had lost his interest in painting and was in what appeared to be a state of severe depression. He accepted the offer of a small cottage at Papuny deteriorated.a, but his condition got worse.photograph: the ruined remans of alberts truck.
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He was admitted to the Alice Springs Hospital where he suffered a heart attack, and with the beginning of pneumonia it was only a matter of hours before he died.
photograph:alberts gravestone
bibliography:http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/29889
http://courses.u3anet.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Famous%20Australians/Namatjira%20Albert.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Namatjira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9hV4zVommA
