'Albert Namatjira is cherished but strict copyright stifles his legacy
'In the 1940s and early 50s, Australia could not get enough of Aboriginal landscape painter Albert Namatjira. The former cameleer and initiated Aranda man from central Australia was the subject of three documentaries, his exhibitions sold out regularly and he was presented to the Queen during the 1954 royal tour.
'Yet the father of the modern Aboriginal art movement was 54 before he was quietly granted citizenship (along with his wife Robina and four other Northern Territory Aborigines) on May 13, 1957. Once he became a citizen, Namatjira could travel without government permission, drink alcohol legally and transact business deals for the first time.' (Introduction)