Lofty Nabardayai Nadjamerrek
Also know as: Nabageyo, Nabarrayal, Nabadayal
BIOGRAPHY
Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek was born around 1926 at Kukkurlumurl on his clan lands in the Mann River region of Western Arnhem Land. He spent his early years moving through this rugged stone country, camping among the rocky escarpments and caves during the wet season. It was here that his father Yanjorluk, a respected rock painter, taught him the traditional art of rock painting. A number of early paintings by both father and son still survive in the Kodwalehwaleh region of the Djordi clan estate.
As a teenager Nadjamerrek left Arnhem Land and walked nearly 200 kilometres south to the tin mining town of Maranboy, where he found work at the mine. His European employer nicknamed him “Lofty”, a reference to his tall stature, a name that remained with him throughout his life. When the mine closed following the introduction of equal pay legislation, which ended the practice of paying Indigenous workers only in rations and tobacco, he moved on to work as a stockman on cattle stations across the Northern Territory.
During the Second World War he was briefly living in the bush before being forcibly returned to work at the Army’s Stirling Mill near Mataranka, where many Aboriginal men were required to labour for the war effort. After the war he returned to his country in Western Arnhem Land and later moved to Oenpelli (now Gunbalanya), where he worked as a buffalo shooter.
Nadjamerrek married Mary Kalkiwarra, and the couple raised eight children. Although anthropologists had been collecting bark paintings in the Oenpelli region since Sir Baldwin Spencer’s visit in 1912, it was not until the late 1960s that artists began producing bark paintings more regularly for sale. Encouraged by art adviser Peter Carroll, who paid artists directly for their work and showed a strong interest in the local culture and language, Nadjamerrek began painting seriously from 1969 onwards.
Despite growing international interest in bark painting during this period, Oenpelli did not have a formal art centre until the establishment of Injalak Arts in 1989. In the years prior to this, Nadjamerrek’s paintings were distributed through various channels, including Aboriginal Arts and Crafts, later Aboriginal Arts Australia, which exhibited works in galleries across Australia’s capital cities. Field collectors such as Dorothy Bennett assisted in documenting and distributing bark paintings, and works were also supplied to private dealers including Jim Davidson in Melbourne and galleries such as Coo-ee and Hogarth Galleries in Sydney.
During these years Nadjamerrek’s reputation grew steadily through numerous group exhibitions that focused on the art of the “Stone Country” and the Oenpelli region. With the increasing emphasis on Aboriginal self-determination during the 1970s and 1980s, he eventually returned to live on his country, establishing an outstation at Malkawo in 1980.
Following a tragic shooting incident involving members of his extended family in 1988, Nadjamerrek moved to Kamarrkawarn, on his mother’s country along the Mann River, where he lived with his family for the remainder of his life.
The establishment of Injalak Arts at Gunbalanya in 1989 brought further recognition to Nadjamerrek as one of the region’s most important artists. His paintings encompass a wide range of spiritual and secular subjects drawn from the cultural traditions of Western Arnhem Land. His style reflects the conventions of the region, typically featuring figurative forms set against unadorned ochre backgrounds of red, brown or black.
His predominantly white figures are often filled with x-ray imagery revealing internal organs, combined with finely executed rarrk (cross-hatching). Nadjamerrek’s distinctive approach to these infill patterns — particularly his use of parallel red lines — distinguishes his work from that of other Western Arnhem Land painters such as Mick Kubarkku, with whom he was closely associated.
Their relationship was highlighted in the landmark exhibition Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon: The Art of Mick Kubarkku and Bardayal Nadjamerrek, presented by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1995.
In later life Nadjamerrek increasingly painted on Arches paper, partly due to the difficulty of sourcing suitable bark. Despite a long and influential career, dedicated solo exhibitions of his work did not appear until the early 2000s, including exhibitions at Mossenson Galleries in Melbourne and Annandale Galleries in Sydney.
Nadjamerrek’s achievements were widely recognised. One of his paintings appeared on an Australian 40-cent postage stamp in 1982, and in 1999 he won the Telstra Work on Paper Award at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In 2004 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian art and culture.
Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek passed away in October 2009, leaving behind a remarkable legacy as one of the most important artists of Western Arnhem Land and a master of the region’s bark painting traditions.
As a teenager Nadjamerrek left Arnhem Land and walked nearly 200 kilometres south to the tin mining town of Maranboy, where he found work at the mine. His European employer nicknamed him “Lofty”, a reference to his tall stature, a name that remained with him throughout his life. When the mine closed following the introduction of equal pay legislation, which ended the practice of paying Indigenous workers only in rations and tobacco, he moved on to work as a stockman on cattle stations across the Northern Territory.
During the Second World War he was briefly living in the bush before being forcibly returned to work at the Army’s Stirling Mill near Mataranka, where many Aboriginal men were required to labour for the war effort. After the war he returned to his country in Western Arnhem Land and later moved to Oenpelli (now Gunbalanya), where he worked as a buffalo shooter.
Nadjamerrek married Mary Kalkiwarra, and the couple raised eight children. Although anthropologists had been collecting bark paintings in the Oenpelli region since Sir Baldwin Spencer’s visit in 1912, it was not until the late 1960s that artists began producing bark paintings more regularly for sale. Encouraged by art adviser Peter Carroll, who paid artists directly for their work and showed a strong interest in the local culture and language, Nadjamerrek began painting seriously from 1969 onwards.
Despite growing international interest in bark painting during this period, Oenpelli did not have a formal art centre until the establishment of Injalak Arts in 1989. In the years prior to this, Nadjamerrek’s paintings were distributed through various channels, including Aboriginal Arts and Crafts, later Aboriginal Arts Australia, which exhibited works in galleries across Australia’s capital cities. Field collectors such as Dorothy Bennett assisted in documenting and distributing bark paintings, and works were also supplied to private dealers including Jim Davidson in Melbourne and galleries such as Coo-ee and Hogarth Galleries in Sydney.
During these years Nadjamerrek’s reputation grew steadily through numerous group exhibitions that focused on the art of the “Stone Country” and the Oenpelli region. With the increasing emphasis on Aboriginal self-determination during the 1970s and 1980s, he eventually returned to live on his country, establishing an outstation at Malkawo in 1980.
Following a tragic shooting incident involving members of his extended family in 1988, Nadjamerrek moved to Kamarrkawarn, on his mother’s country along the Mann River, where he lived with his family for the remainder of his life.
The establishment of Injalak Arts at Gunbalanya in 1989 brought further recognition to Nadjamerrek as one of the region’s most important artists. His paintings encompass a wide range of spiritual and secular subjects drawn from the cultural traditions of Western Arnhem Land. His style reflects the conventions of the region, typically featuring figurative forms set against unadorned ochre backgrounds of red, brown or black.
His predominantly white figures are often filled with x-ray imagery revealing internal organs, combined with finely executed rarrk (cross-hatching). Nadjamerrek’s distinctive approach to these infill patterns — particularly his use of parallel red lines — distinguishes his work from that of other Western Arnhem Land painters such as Mick Kubarkku, with whom he was closely associated.
Their relationship was highlighted in the landmark exhibition Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon: The Art of Mick Kubarkku and Bardayal Nadjamerrek, presented by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1995.
In later life Nadjamerrek increasingly painted on Arches paper, partly due to the difficulty of sourcing suitable bark. Despite a long and influential career, dedicated solo exhibitions of his work did not appear until the early 2000s, including exhibitions at Mossenson Galleries in Melbourne and Annandale Galleries in Sydney.
Nadjamerrek’s achievements were widely recognised. One of his paintings appeared on an Australian 40-cent postage stamp in 1982, and in 1999 he won the Telstra Work on Paper Award at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. In 2004 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian art and culture.
Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek passed away in October 2009, leaving behind a remarkable legacy as one of the most important artists of Western Arnhem Land and a master of the region’s bark painting traditions.
Awards
1982 — Artwork featured on Australian 40c postage stamp
1999 — Telstra Work on Paper Award, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2004 — Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Indigenous art
1999 — Telstra Work on Paper Award, National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2004 — Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Indigenous art
Exhibitions
2005 — Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek, Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne
2006 — Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
2011 — Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek Retrospective, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
2006 — Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
2011 — Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek Retrospective, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
Group Exhibitions
1975 — Exhibition of Aboriginal Art, Meadow Brook Art Gallery, Rochester, Michigan, USA
1989 — Aboriginal Art from Arnhem Land, touring exhibition, Australia
1995 — Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon: The Art of Mick Kubarkku and Bardayal Nadjamerrek, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1999 — National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2004 — Crossing Country: The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2006 — Injalak Arts Exhibition, touring exhibition, Australia
2011 — Stone Country: The Art of Western Arnhem Land, touring exhibition, Australia
1989 — Aboriginal Art from Arnhem Land, touring exhibition, Australia
1995 — Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon: The Art of Mick Kubarkku and Bardayal Nadjamerrek, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1999 — National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2004 — Crossing Country: The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2006 — Injalak Arts Exhibition, touring exhibition, Australia
2011 — Stone Country: The Art of Western Arnhem Land, touring exhibition, Australia
Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Australian National University Collection, Canberra
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Perth
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands
Numerous private collections in Australia and internationally
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Australian National University Collection, Canberra
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Perth
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA
The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands
Numerous private collections in Australia and internationally
Market Analysis
Despite a long and influential career, the secondary market for works by Bardayal ‘Lofty’ Nadjamerrek developed relatively slowly when compared with many Western Desert painters. Although his paintings were widely exhibited and supported by important galleries, including Annandale Galleries in Sydney, auction results remained modest for many years. His works did not exceed $10,000 at auction until 2008, despite the breadth of his subject matter and a career that spanned nearly four decades.
Part of this disparity reflects broader patterns within the Aboriginal art market. Historically, bark paintings from Arnhem Land have often achieved lower prices than canvas works from the Western Desert, even where the artists involved are of comparable cultural and artistic significance. In addition, many of Nadjamerrek’s finest paintings remained in institutional or long-term private collections and therefore rarely appeared on the secondary market.
Prior to 2008, his auction record had stood since 2000, when Namarrkon (The Lightning Man) sold for $8,625 at Sotheby’s. While several works appeared during the following years, it was not until 2008 and 2009 that stronger results began to emerge, with a number of paintings surpassing this earlier record.
A significant turning point occurred in 2013, when Bonhams sold the Clive Evatt Jr. collection of Arnhem Land bark paintings and sculpture. Nadjamerrek’s works were among the highlights of the sale. Lightning Spirit (Namarrkon) achieved $47,580, while Mimi Spirits Dancing realised $36,600, and two further paintings depicting Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent) and Kolobarr (the Plains Kangaroo) each sold for $28,060. Several works entered the artist’s top auction results at this time, substantially lifting his overall market profile.
Nadjamerrek produced a large number of works on paper during the later part of his career, particularly from the early 1990s onwards when suitable paper materials became more widely available in Arnhem Land. These works generally achieve more modest results than bark paintings, reflecting collector preferences for the traditional bark medium. Nevertheless, strong examples with finely executed rarrk (cross-hatching) and well-resolved compositions can perform well regardless of medium.
In the final decade of his life Nadjamerrek’s output slowed and the precision of some later works diminished due to declining health. Even so, he continued to paint occasionally for Injalak Arts at Gunbalanya and for galleries in the Northern Territory. Following his passing in 2009, new works effectively ceased to enter the primary market, meaning that collectors must now rely largely on the secondary market to acquire significant examples.
With a career spanning nearly forty years and an important place within the history of Western Arnhem Land bark painting, Nadjamerrek’s work continues to attract growing scholarly and institutional attention.
Part of this disparity reflects broader patterns within the Aboriginal art market. Historically, bark paintings from Arnhem Land have often achieved lower prices than canvas works from the Western Desert, even where the artists involved are of comparable cultural and artistic significance. In addition, many of Nadjamerrek’s finest paintings remained in institutional or long-term private collections and therefore rarely appeared on the secondary market.
Prior to 2008, his auction record had stood since 2000, when Namarrkon (The Lightning Man) sold for $8,625 at Sotheby’s. While several works appeared during the following years, it was not until 2008 and 2009 that stronger results began to emerge, with a number of paintings surpassing this earlier record.
A significant turning point occurred in 2013, when Bonhams sold the Clive Evatt Jr. collection of Arnhem Land bark paintings and sculpture. Nadjamerrek’s works were among the highlights of the sale. Lightning Spirit (Namarrkon) achieved $47,580, while Mimi Spirits Dancing realised $36,600, and two further paintings depicting Ngalyod (the Rainbow Serpent) and Kolobarr (the Plains Kangaroo) each sold for $28,060. Several works entered the artist’s top auction results at this time, substantially lifting his overall market profile.
Nadjamerrek produced a large number of works on paper during the later part of his career, particularly from the early 1990s onwards when suitable paper materials became more widely available in Arnhem Land. These works generally achieve more modest results than bark paintings, reflecting collector preferences for the traditional bark medium. Nevertheless, strong examples with finely executed rarrk (cross-hatching) and well-resolved compositions can perform well regardless of medium.
In the final decade of his life Nadjamerrek’s output slowed and the precision of some later works diminished due to declining health. Even so, he continued to paint occasionally for Injalak Arts at Gunbalanya and for galleries in the Northern Territory. Following his passing in 2009, new works effectively ceased to enter the primary market, meaning that collectors must now rely largely on the secondary market to acquire significant examples.
With a career spanning nearly forty years and an important place within the history of Western Arnhem Land bark painting, Nadjamerrek’s work continues to attract growing scholarly and institutional attention.
