The Art Of Albert Namatjira
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Poor
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Book binding is deteriorating - very loose. This book is a prime candidate for restoration.
In the sun-scorched heart of Central Australia, a man of the Aranda people transformed the ancient ochres of his country into luminous watercolours that astonished the Western art world — The Art of Albert Namatjira chronicles the extraordinary life and artistic vision of one of Australia's most celebrated and tragic painters. Written by Charles P. Mountford, F.R.A.I., an eminent Australian anthropologist and filmmaker with deep ties to Aboriginal culture, this landmark 1944 publication presents an authoritative early account of Namatjira's rise from the Hermannsburg Mission to national and international acclaim, with a foreword by the respected writer and bibliophile R.H. Croll. The work details Namatjira's revolutionary technique — trained in the European watercolour tradition yet profoundly rooted in an Indigenous understanding of landscape — producing ghost gums, mountain ranges, and desert plains of otherworldly beauty. Mountford's text argues that Namatjira's achievement was not merely artistic but deeply cultural, illustrating the complex intersection of Aboriginal identity and colonial Australia at a time when Indigenous Australians were denied basic citizenship rights. Published by the Bread and Cheese Club of Melbourne, this is a rare and historically significant document that captures a pivotal moment in Australian art history, raising questions about recognition, ownership, and the true cost of genius that remain urgently relevant today.
Author: C. P. Mountford
Format: Hardback
Published: 1944, Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne
Genre: The arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Poor
Jacket: N/A
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Book binding is deteriorating - very loose. This book is a prime candidate for restoration.
In the sun-scorched heart of Central Australia, a man of the Aranda people transformed the ancient ochres of his country into luminous watercolours that astonished the Western art world — The Art of Albert Namatjira chronicles the extraordinary life and artistic vision of one of Australia's most celebrated and tragic painters. Written by Charles P. Mountford, F.R.A.I., an eminent Australian anthropologist and filmmaker with deep ties to Aboriginal culture, this landmark 1944 publication presents an authoritative early account of Namatjira's rise from the Hermannsburg Mission to national and international acclaim, with a foreword by the respected writer and bibliophile R.H. Croll. The work details Namatjira's revolutionary technique — trained in the European watercolour tradition yet profoundly rooted in an Indigenous understanding of landscape — producing ghost gums, mountain ranges, and desert plains of otherworldly beauty. Mountford's text argues that Namatjira's achievement was not merely artistic but deeply cultural, illustrating the complex intersection of Aboriginal identity and colonial Australia at a time when Indigenous Australians were denied basic citizenship rights. Published by the Bread and Cheese Club of Melbourne, this is a rare and historically significant document that captures a pivotal moment in Australian art history, raising questions about recognition, ownership, and the true cost of genius that remain urgently relevant today.