Vincent Namatjira OAM’s ‘Self-Portrait’ Acquired by NGA

6 Apr 2024

Vincent Namatjira OAM’s ‘Self-portrait’ has been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

‘Self-portrait’ is Namatjira’s first major exploration of oil-stick, a medium that allows glimpses of the desert landscape between the energetic contours of his face. Painted without his typically cheeky approach to portraiture, Namatjira’s commanding self-portrait sprawls across four distinct views of the MacDonnell Ranges, echoing the landscapes that his great-grandfather Albert Namatjira painted so evocatively 70 years earlier. This work is a monumental tribute to Namatjira’s connection to Country, expressing the power of his ancestral lands interwined with and inseparable from family, history, resilience and recognition.

The work will be on display as part of Vincent Namatjira’s survey exhibition ‘Australia in colour’ at the NGA until 21 July 2024.

Images: Installation view and artwork of Vincent Namatjira’s ‘Self-portrait’ at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2024.