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TheHermannsburg School, also known as theHermannsburg School of Modern Art is an art movement, or art style, which began at theHermannsburg Mission in the 1930s. The best known artist of the style isAlbert Namatjira. The movement is characterised bywatercolours of western-style landscapes that depict the often striking colours of the Australianoutback.
Located 125 km (78 mi) west ofAlice Springs, inCentral Australia, Hermannsburg was founded byGerman Lutheran missionaries from theHermannsburg Mission Society in 1877. TheWestern Arrernte people have lived in this region for thousands of years.[1]
In 1941Rex Battarbee founded the Aranda Art Group, which controlled the supply of materials and helped handle the business affairs of the emerging artists.
The Hermannsburg painters' work is characterised by soft hues, usuallywater colours, of their Western Arrernte landscape, whichEuropeansettlers named theWestern Macdonnell Ranges. Previously, Western Arrernte people had only used art in a ceremonial sense, astopographical interpretations of their country and their particularDreamings, painted usingsymbols.
Early works by Albert Namatjira also conveyed this spiritual connection with the land. They shared an intimate knowledge of the land on which they had lived for thousands of years. Theghost gum features prominently in the works, a sacred and important part of Western Arrernte mythology. In the best works by Otto Pareroultja, trees were painted as ancestral beings with body-like trunks and arm-like branches.
Albert Namatjira began his distinctive style after seeing an exhibition by travelling artists to the mission,Rex Battarbee andJohn Gardner, in the 1930s.
Other artists from the Hermannsburg school includeWenten Rubuntja,Walter Ebatarinja,Otto Pareroultja, and his brothers Ruben and Edwin, as well as Albert's sons, Enos, Oscar, Ewald, Maurice, and Keith, his grandson Gabriel, his son-in-law Claude Panka,[2] as well as his granddaughter Gloria Panka.[citation needed]
Other members of the school include the brothers Henoch and Herbert Raberaba,[2] and Clem Abbott.[3]
In the late 1970s, after several of the main proponents of the style had died, the movement started to fade and lose momentum. However, Wenten Rubuntja continued to paint right into the 1990s.[3]
The Hermannsburg School represented a major change of direction forAustralian Aboriginal art.[4] The works produced by the movement were accessible to collectors who were more familiar with western-style landscapes.[4] It was also a successful economic model for aboriginal communities.[4]
Today Hermannsburg is also well known for itspotters, particularly its women.
