Hermannsburg School

[1] In 1941 Rex Battarbee founded the Aranda Art Group, which controlled the supply of materials and helped handle the business affairs of the emerging artists.

Previously, Western Arrernte people had only used art in a ceremonial sense, as topographical interpretations of their country and their particular Dreamings, painted using symbols.

The ghost gum features prominently in the works, a sacred and important part of Western Arrernte mythology.

Albert Namatjira began his distinctive style after seeing an exhibition by travelling artists to the mission, Rex Battarbee and John Gardner, in the 1930s.

Other artists from the Hermannsburg school include Wenten Rubuntja, 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 Panka,[2] as well as his granddaughter Gloria Panka.