Page 54 - Tropic Magazine Issue 27

TROPIC • ARTS

A forgotten

fortune

RARE FIND
One lucky local had no
idea his shed contained a
hidden treasure – an Albert
Namatjira painting worth an
estimated $30,000.
Words: Annabel Bowles

Sheds seem to naturally accumulate with 1
trinkets and trash, and rarely anything
of value. I knew this wasn’t a fake.
But not for a local man who rediscovered “After getting Namatjira’s signature
an Albert Namatjira watercolour during a authenticated, I started working on the
storage clean out. watercolour in my lab in Smithfield. I could see straight away
The owner, who wishes to remain “The treatment involved removing the – even through the dirty,
anonymous, believes it had been there backing board and two water washes
for about thirty years after being passed of the watercolour painting to get rid of dusty old frame and cloudy
down from his father. staining and dirt that had accumulated glazing – that it was an
He sent it to local art conservator Melanie over the years.
Sorenson, who obtained the estimated “20 hours of work eventually revealed authentic Albert Namatjira
insurance value from a major Sydney signatures, annotations and framing Art conservator
auction house. notes on the back, and a refreshed image Melanie Sorenson
Melanie told Tropic she immediately knew true to Namatjira’s remarkable sense of
it was an authentic Namatjira work. colour of the Australian landscape.”
“I could see straight away – even through The painting, titled Ghost Gums, depicts and his art mentor Rex Battarbee, a friend
the dirty, dusty old frame and cloudy a landscape in the MacDonnell Ranges, of the owner’s father.
glazing – that it was an authentic Albert Tjoritja – Namatjira’s homelands in “He had no idea it would be worth
Namatjira,” she said. Central Australia. as much as $30,000,” Melanie said.
“There are a lot of reproductions floating Melanie believes it was painted in the “The cultural value of the work is also
around, but after working eight years as a mid-1950s, with writing on the back undeniable.
professional conservator at the National indicating the owner’s family received the “He’s still deciding whether to keep the
Library of Australia and having seen and watercolour in 1957. painting or offer it at auction.”
worked on other Namatjira paintings, She said the owner once met Namatjira Melanie is unaware of any other authentic
Namatjira work in Far North Queensland.

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54 • Tropic • Issue 27