Seeing the Centre

The Art of Albert Namatjira 1902–1959

Exhibition
5 Oct 2002 – 19 Jan 2003
Landscape watercolour painting of Australian country with large gum tree on the left

Albert Namatjira (Western Arrarnta people), not titled landscape, 1955, gift of Thomas William and Pamela Joyce (Joy) Falconer 1987 © Namatjira Legacy Trust/ Copyright Agency

About

Seeing the Centre reassesses the life and art of Western Aranda (Arrernte) artist, Albert Namatjira (1902–1959). For all his success, Namatjira's achievements were dismissed as purely derivative by many art commentators. He is now seen to have reworked the models of the European watercolour tradition to express a personal vision. His subjects were not chosen for their beauty in European terms, but as ancestral landscapes though which he expressed his relationship with the country to which he was spiritually bound. His images are of a land unshaped by evidence of European settlement.

Albert Namatjira is Australia’s first popularly known Aboriginal artist and the landscape paintings he produced have become iconic images synonymous with the Australian outback. His images are of a land created in the Dreaming, untamed by the pastoral industry and by other evidence of European settlement. This is the first comprehensive survey of his work in celebration of the centenary of his birth on 28 July 2002.

Curator: Roger Butler, Senior Curator Australian Prints, Drawings and Watercolours and Alison French, Darling Author Fellow, Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, Australian National University

The content from this page is sourced from: French, Alison. Seeing the Centre : The Art of Albert Namatjira, 1902-1959. Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2002.

Related

Exhibition

Mud Men
Ramesh Nithiyendran

Past Exhibition
A ceramic sculpture of a vaguely humanoid figure atop a cement platform

3 Jun 2016 – 26 Feb 2017

Mud men is a new installation by Sydney-based artist Ramesh Nithiyendran featuring five large-scale ceramic sculptures.

Exhibition

FuturePlay
from the house of tomorrow

Past Exhibition
Model layout of exhibitions with hands adjusting the location of works of art

19 Mar 2005 – 29 May 2005

futurePlay transforms the Children’s Gallery into a playroom of the future, with an electronic world of digital animations and interactive artwork.

Exhibition

Silently Stirring

Past Exhibition
Two squirrels on a branch, one on all fours and another in an upright position with paws held up to mouth

21 Mar 2009 – 8 Jun 2009

Silently stirring explores the themes of movement, change and transformation through prints, drawings, photography and sculpture of animals.

Exhibition

Diane Arbus
American Portraits

Past Exhibition
A black and white photo of harried Christmas shoppers looking down at the photographer

3 Jun 2016 – 30 Oct 2016

The photographs of Diane Arbus (1923–1971) are powerful allegories of postwar America.

Exhibition

In the Spotlight
Anton Bruehl photographs 1920s–1950s

Past Exhibition
Picture of a young redheaded offering a bouquet of red roses to an unknown figure whose elderly hands are shown in the frame.

23 Oct 2010 – 6 Feb 2011

Australian-born photographer Anton Bruehl's work ranges across advertising, images of stars of stage, screen and socialites in places such as Vogue.

Exhibition

The Birth of the Modern Poster

Past Exhibition
Print of a green goblin holding a bottle of alcohol upon a black background. Yellow text underneath reads Maurin Quina

10 Feb – 13 May 2007

The Birth of the Modern Poster examined poster art and its evolution from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Exhibition

Robert Rauschenberg
1967–1978

Past Exhibition
Collage with two elephants in the centre, small clock face, pill and fingertip images

1 Sep 2007 – 27 Jan 2008

Rauschenberg worked beyond the restrictions imposed by media, style and convention, and adopted a unique experimental methodology.

Exhibition

Masterpieces from Paris
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond

Past Exhibition
An oil painting study of a rocky shoreline at the base of the cliff

4 Dec 2009 – 5 Apr 2010

Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond features 112 of the best-known works of modern art from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Exhibition

Frank Stella
The Kenneth Tyler Print Collection

Past Exhibition
a bright screenprint with geometric patterns and shapes collaged together

19 Nov 2016 – 22 Oct 2017

A showcase of Frank Stella's adventurous and groundbreaking prints that helped shape the development of 20th century printmaking.

Exhibition

3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial: Defying Empire

Past Exhibition
A painting of many spears

26 May – 10 Sep 2017

The 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial brings together the works of 30 contemporary First Nations artists from across the country.