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Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959) became interested in painting at the Hermannsburg Mission in the 1930s. After learning watercolour technique, he was persuaded to exhibit his work in Melbourne in 1938. The exhibition sold out in two days. Demand for his paintings increased during the 1940s and he was the subject of a biography and a film, Namatjira the Painter. In 1954 he met the young Queen Elizabeth II in Canberra, and he was awarded citizenship status in 1957. One of the consequences of citizenship was that Namatjira was legally entitled to buy alcohol, but when he shared it with his fellow Arrernte, as custom required, he was sentenced to imprisonment. Although the sentence was commuted, he never recovered, and he died the following year. Over sixty years after his death, Namatjira remains the best known Australian Aboriginal painter.
Axel Poignant began photographing Aboriginal people during excursions to Pingelly, Western Australia in 1938 and the Canning Stock Route in 1942. He spent three months with Namatjira and his wife Rubina (Ilkalita, 1903–1974) while working as a cameraman on Namatjira the Painter. A Kukatja woman, Ilkalita and Albert had five sons and three daughters who survived infancy. During his time with the Namatjiras, Poignant developed a strong appreciation of the bond between Aboriginal people and their Country.
Purchased 1999
Axel Poignant (age 40 in 1946)
Albert Namatjira (age 44 in 1946)
Rubina Namatjira (age 43 in 1946)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
The art and landscape of Albert Namatjira.
Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.