Recent estate find Please Help ID

[cabin4collections]

Vintage (believed to be hand-painted) artwork, no signature or identification that I can see. Any help would be REALLY appreciated.

[maxine*j]

It is a reproduction of a painting by Albert Namatjira, a famous Australian painter.

Here are other paintings by him:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Albert+Namatjira+paintings&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjso9...

There is much biographical information on-line:

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1543&bih=753&ei=6T1QXaX9JIG45gKx_ZHgDg&q=Albert+Namatjira+&oq=Albe...

[maxine*j · Accepted solution]

By the way, I say "reproduction" based on the photos you provide.  I don't see it as an actual watercolor painting, but rather something mechanically reproduced.  However, maybe you see something I don't. 

Have you looked at it with a good loupe?  If so, what did you see?

If you think it is an actual watercolor, the next step is to take it out of the frame to look for a signature. 

[cabin4collections]

Thanks for the help. There is a signature on the very bottom right, now that I have looked more closly. DO you know how to tell though if its "real", "reproduction", or just a print?  Thanks again!

[sonomabarn67]

You need to take some extreme, well lit, crystal-clear close-ups including the sig. Also the paper on the back may be hiding information. If mine, I would take a single edge razor blade and cut along the two sides and the bottom leaving the top '"hinged" and see what is under there.

[maxine*j]

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@cabin4collections wrote:

Thanks for the help. There is a signature on the very bottom right, now that I have looked more closly. DO you know how to tell though if its "real", "reproduction", or just a print?  Thanks again!

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Someone here might be able to help if you do as Sonoma suggested and post "some extreme, well lit, crystal-clear close-ups including the signature."  I'd also do as he suggested and cut the paper away, then tell us about and/or post pictures of anything revealed.

[cabin4collections]

Okay so I cut the paper away carefully and here is what I found. . . .

[deech21]

There are so called ART FARMS in China where the artists will paint any famous paintings,Picasso,ANDY WARHOL,Matisse,you name it,they will paint it

[cabin4collections]

The estate sale I got this at, the owners were frequent travels to Australia, and the home was in the vicinity of over 350,000. SO I do not think it is from China. But thanks.

[sonomabarn67]

That looks like an unfocused and somewhat blurry photo.  Not at all what I suggested. I'm not going to stick my neck out with an opinion with a photo like that. Also, what was under the paper on the back? Since we don't have the actual painting in hand like you do, we have to ask these questions for accuracy.

[Anonymous]

Could you remove it from the frame?

Generally, an original painting will be a little "messy" at the edges and have some unpainted areas at the margin.

[cabin4collections]

Maybe these are a little better. seperated art workBack of art work

[maxine*j]

Thanks for new pictures.  Wait for others with more experience and better eyesight -- particularly @sonomabarn67 -- but I'll say that it begins to look more like the real thing, to me.  If so, you have a very nice find. 

I asked earlier if you'd ever looked at it using a good loupe and, of so, what you saw.  I'm still curious to know if you have, and what you saw.

Anyhow, you can see prices realized here for Albert Namatjira's work:
http://www.findartinfo.com/english/list-prices-by-artist/14072/albert-namatjira.html

If you do Google searches on something like Albert Namatjira Bonham's, and Albert Namatjira Christie's, and Albert Namatjira Sotheby's you will find that prices realized for his work often exceed estimates. 

If you think and if others here think, this is an original, I'd say go the website of any of the three, and you'll see how to submit pictures and info for a free valuation.

[cabin4collections]

I will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for all your input. My husband thinks we should pay to get it "authenticated" / appraised. Again thanks for the info.

[argon38]

"An approved valuer for the federal government's Cultural Gifts Program, Hulme admits it is difficult even for an expert to distinguish between an original Namatjira watercolour valued at up to $30,000 and a worthless print."

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/six-bucks-for-a-namatjira-look-again-20120324-1v...