Works in the database
350
Works with images
188
Works with multiple sales
40

Past Sales

Shades of Summer
Central Australian Landscape
Untitled (MacDonnell Ranges)

Sales by Medium

Works on Paper
Sold 300 works for
$256,091
Objects
Sold 7 works for
$5,338
Paintings
Sold 4 works for
$2,106

Where to buy or sell art works by Oscar Namatjira

Auction Houses

Elder Fine Art
Sold 53 works for
$66,102
Leonard Joel
Sold 80 works for
$50,278
Sotheby's
Sold 8 works for
$26,431

Born in 1922, Australian Aboriginal artist Oscar Namatjira was the second son of Albert Namatjira and grew up with his family in Hermannsburg west of Alice Springs. He painted in the familiar style of the artists of the Hermannsburg School, an art movement that began in the 1930s and is characterised by the use of watercolours to depict the luminous colours of the outback landscape in the Western Arrernte region of Australia’s Northern Territory.

The earliest auction listing we have for Oscar Namatjira is in 1978 and in total 350 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 312 (89%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $6,600 for Gorge Near Glen Helen, Western MacDonnells Late 1940s sold by Sotheby's in October 2006. No works have been offered for sale this year, and the last sale we have recorded for the artist was in 2023. Works by Oscar Namatjira are held by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and a further two major public national galleries (see list below).

Oscar Namatjira is listed in the following standard biographical references:

  • Germaine, Max. Artists and Galleries of Australia, Volumes 1 & 2, Third Edition. Craftsman Press, Sydney, 1990. Page 496
  • Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 347
  • Australian Prints + Printmaking, a database listing printmaking artists from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region based on the print collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

Artists' Resale Royalty

Could the second and subsequent works by this artist sold after June 9, 2010 for over $1,000 be liable for the Artists' Resale Royalty? More info…

Yes, eligible, subject to the artist satisfying the residency test. The artist is alive or has been deceased for less than 70 years. Contact the Copyright Agency for information on the residency test.

The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.

Access to the database is available on either a monthly or annual subscription. During the subscription period you have unlimited access to the site. If you would like to subscribe, please proceed to our .

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