Title
The hills behind Hermannsburg
circa 1954
Artist
Otto Pareroultja
Australia
1914 – 12 Aug 1973
Language group: Western Arrernte, Central Desert region
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Hermannsburg
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Northern Territory
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Australia
- Date
- circa 1954
- Media category
- Watercolour
- Materials used
- watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- 31.0 x 52.0 cm image; 51.0 x 70.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed l.c., watercolour "Otto Pareroultja". Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1996
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 573.1996
- Copyright
- © Estate of Otto Pareroultja/Copyright Agency
- Artist information
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Otto Pareroultja
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Otto Pareroultja and his brothers Reuben and Edwin worked and painted at the Lutheran Hermannsburg Mission west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Initially influenced by their countryman, Albert Namatjira, and by Rex Battarbee, the Melbourne watercolourist who worked closely with the Hermannsburg artists, the Pareroultja brothers developed their own distinctive styles. In their paintings, the desert landscape is less representational than in Namatjira's work, and is animated by their use of vigorous, sinuous lines, dynamic areas of repeated patterning and strong colours massed together.
These elements are clearly evident in Pareroultja’s c1954 painting 'The hills behind Hermannsburg', which explores the common Hermannsburg school motif of a white ghost gum in front of a distant mountain range. The painting has a graphic quality, rendered in Pareroultja’s customary high-keyed colour contrasted with distinctive black line-work. His use of brilliant yellow highlights and unpainted areas of white paper add luminosity to the landscape, emphasising the clarity of central Australian light. This vibrant approach to painting has had a strong influence on Ivy Pareroultja, Edwin’s daughter, who is currently leading a revival of the Hermannsburg painting style.
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Places
Where the work was made
Hermannsburg
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Exhibition history
Shown in 4 exhibitions
One sun, one moon, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 03 Jul 2007–02 Dec 2007
Country Culture Community (2008-09), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 Nov 2008–19 Apr 2009
The hills beyond Hermannsburg, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Mar 2014–02 Jun 2014
20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
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Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
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Alison French, One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia, ‘‘We’re got to follow that old man’s tracks’: Engaging with the art of Albert Namatjira’, pg. 151-163, Sydney, 2007, 159 (colour illus.).
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Hetti Perkins, Art + soul: a journey into the world of Aboriginal art, 'Bitter + sweet’, pg. 173-265, Carlton, 2010, 241 (colour illus.), 282.
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Wayne Tunnicliff, Tradition today: Indigenous art in Australia, 'Otto Pareroultja', pg. 116, Sydney, 2004, 116, 117 (colour illus.).
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