The Hermannsburg School is an art movement, or art style, which began at the

Hermannsburg Mission The Hermannsburg Mission (german: Hermannsburger Mission) was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission soc ...

in the 1930s. The best known artist of the style is

Albert Namatjira Albert Namatjira (born Elea Namatjira; 28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959) was an Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential Australian artists. As a pioneer of cont ...

. The movement is characterised by

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s of western-style landscapes that depict the often striking colours of the Australian

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

History

Located 125 km west of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, in

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

, Hermannsburg was founded by

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

in 1877. The

Western Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

people have lived in this region for thousands of years. In 1941

Rex Battarbee Reginald Ernest Battarbee, (16 December 1893 – 2 September 1973) was an Australian artist notable for painting landscapes of Central Australia, and for teaching Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira to paint. Early career Rex Battarbee was bo ...

founded the Aranda Art Group, which controlled the supply of materials and helped handle the business affairs of the emerging artists.™

Style

The Hermannsburg painters' work is characterised by soft hues, usually water colours, of their Western Arrernte landscape, which

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s named the Western Macdonnell Ranges. Previously, Western Arrernte people had only used art in a ceremonial sense, as

topographical Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

interpretations of their country and their particular Dreamings, painted using

symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

. Early works by Albert 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. The Ghost 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 & arm-like branches.

Members

Albert Namatjira began his distinctive style after seeing an exhibition by travelling artists to the mission,

and John Gardner, in the 1930s. Other artists from the Hermannsburg school include

Wenten Rubuntja Wenten Rubuntja (c. 1923 – 2005) was an Australian artist, Aboriginal rights activist, and historian. Wenten was born at Bart's Creek, about 56 km north of Alice Springs. A meeting of representatives of Central Australian Aboriginal co ...

, 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 Pannka as well as his granddaughter Gloria Pannka. Other members of the school include the brothers Henoch and Herbert Raberaba.

Legacy

The Hermannsburg School represented a major change of direction for

Australian aboriginal art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carvin ...

. The works produced by the movement were accessible to collectors who were more familiar with western-style landscapes. It was also a successful economic model for aboriginal communities. Today Hermannsburg is also well known for its

potters A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas * Potter, Nebraska *Potters, New Jer ...

, particularly its women.

References

External links