Rex Battarbee : artist & Albert Namatjira’s friend

Melbourne : Badger Editions, 2026. Quarto (315 x 250 mm), pictorial laminate boards; pp. 296, extensively illustrated. Printed in a small edition of only 300 copies. New copy of a title not in commercial distribution.

This beautifully produced monograph on Australian painter Rex Battarbee (1893-1973) promises to become the definitive account of the artist and his close relationship with Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira (1902-1959). Battarbee introduced Namatjira to the art of watercolour painting at the Hermannsburg Mission in 1934, and continued to encourage him and champion his work throughout the rest of his career. Co-written by Battarbee’s daughter Gayle Quarmby and noted arts writer and publisher Ken McGregor (author of the 2021 monograph The life and times of Albert Namatjira), the book draws extensively on the Battarbee family archive, and is richly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs of Rex Battarbee, Albert Namatjira, and the artists and community at Hermannsburg, as well as many reproductions of artworks sourced from major public and private collections.