Description: Albert Namatjira 1902-1959 THE VALLEY, MACDONNELL RANGES, NORTHERN TERRITORY (1956) watercolour over pencil on paper signed 'ALBERT NAMATJIRA' lower right 36 X 51CM PROVENANCE Finke River Mission, Alice Springs Sir Horace Frank Richardson, Melbourne Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne Private Collection, Melbourne Although not the first Aboriginal artist to work in a European style, Albert Namatjira is certainly the most famous. The arts establishment immediately embraced the work – and a large part of his initial success was the perception that his paintings met the norms of Western art. Ghost gums with luminous white trunks, palm-filled gorges and red mountain ranges turning purple at dusk are the hallmarks of the Hermannsburg school. Albert Namatjira, (born July 28, 1902, Hermannsburg, near Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia—died August 8, 1959, Alice Springs), Australian Aboriginal painter noted for his watercolour landscapes of desertlike central Australia. Albert Namatjira was an Australian Arrente artist largely credited with pioneering contemporary indigenous Australian art and popularizing it worldwide. Albert Namatjira painting Namatjira then proceeded to develop a style featuring distinctive Australian flora set against rugged geological features and landscapes. Namatjira was born on July 28, 1902 in Alice Springs, Australia and adopted Christianity at an early age, dividing his cultural upbringing between a Western and Aboriginal one. He is known for watercolours of desert landscapes rather than the symbolic style of … Indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959) is arguably Australia's best known Aboriginal painter.