Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959), born Elea Namatjira, was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. As a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art, he was the most famous Indigenous Australian of his generation. Born and raised at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission outside Alice Springs, Namatjira showed interest in art from an early age, but it was not until 1934 (aged 32), under the tutelage of Rex Battarbee, that he began to paint seriously. Namatjira's richly detailed, Western art-influenced watercolours of the outback departed significantly from the abstract designs
Albert Namatjira "Namatjira", written by Geoff Drummond and included on the politically activist album, "The Chess Set" released by Pat Drummond in 2004. In 1968 Namatjira was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post and again in 1993 with examples of his work. The Namatjira Project was a community cultural development project launched in 2009 that included an award-winning theatre production by Big "h"ART focusing on Namatjira's life and work. The Northern Territory electoral division of Namatjira, which surrounds Alice Springs, was renamed in 2012 from MacDonnell, in honour of Namatjira. In January 2013, two gum trees that featured prominently