Untitled (Central Australian Landscape) 1955

Albert Namatjira made this watercolour landscape of Central Australia and the mark-making is amazing, it's like he’s feeling his way through the scene. Look at the way he builds up the surface with these thin washes, one over the other. It's almost like he's layering time itself, each stroke a moment captured. I love how the blue underpainting peeks through the ochre and browns, giving the rocks this incredible depth and weight. And then those dark, almost gothic, lines that carve out the mountain’s form! It’s such a clever way to both define and abstract the landscape. Namatjira reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, another landscape painter who wasn't afraid to play with the rules, and you can really see that in the way the scene’s both real and totally invented.