Central Australian Landscape 1944

Albert Namatjira made this watercolour painting of the Central Australian landscape sometime in the mid-twentieth century. He’s built the image with these beautiful washes of colour, one layer on top of another, which is such a traditional watercolour technique. Looking at this painting, I can see how the light seems to bounce off the surface of the paper. Namatjira is working with very thin paint here, a light, almost transparent colour that lets the whiteness of the paper shine through. The mountain is built up from many layers of purple and brown, but each layer is light enough that it feels like the mountain is glowing. I love the way the trees are rendered with similar layering techniques: the artist uses very light touches of greens and blues to create an airy, ethereal effect. This work reminds me of some of the American landscape painters of the 19th century, particularly someone like Frederic Church. Both artists share an interest in capturing the grandeur of nature with a deep and almost spiritual reverence. Namatjira, like Church, seems to be saying that landscape painting is about more than just representation. It's about conveying a feeling, an emotional state that's both personal and universal.