Vincent Namatjira OAM uses wit and a playful collapsing of chronologies to disrupt colonial narratives, drawing together political critique and deeply personal histories in vibrant colour and bold brushwork. In this double portrait, Vincent and his great-grandfather, the celebrated Western Arrernte/Aranda/Arrarnta artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959), sit before the brilliant colours and ancient rock formations of their Country surrounding Ntaria/Hermannsburg, landscapes famously rendered in watercolour by Albert. In pose and attire, the figure of Albert in Vincent's diptych directly references the portrait by Sir William Dargie CBE that won the Archibald Prize in 1956; the first winning portrait of a First Nations sitter. Albert's distinctive style, though often reductively perceived as consistent with a traditional Western landscape aesthetic, was rooted in deep Ancestral connection and knowledge of the lands spanning his father’s Country around Tjoritja/MacDonnell Ranges and his mother’s Country in the region of Mpulungkinya/Palm Valley in Central Australia. By including his great-grandfather alongside his own self portrait, Vincent signals a flexibility across histories, allowing the two artists to converge in time and space – a shared legacy of family, artistic practice and connection through Country.
Purchased with funds provided by the Calvert-Jones Foundation, Liangis Family Foundation and the Portrait Dinner Series 2024
© Vincent Namatjira/Copyright Agency, 2024
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
The art and landscape of Albert Namatjira.
from Saturday 15 March
Gallery Three features major new acquisitions, collection highlights and favourites.
