Name

Martin Dougal

Culture

Aboriginal Australian

Gender

Male

Birth date

1949

Birth place

Beagle Bay Mission, Western Australia, Australia View on map Close map

Death date

1989

Occupations

Artist (painter) | Printmaker

Summary

Worked: Australia (WA). Etchings, screenprints

NGA IRN

20359

Context

Australia

Biography

Martin Dougal

Martin Dougal was born at Beagle Bay mission in the Kimberley in north-western Western Australia in 1949. His people are from the Kimberley coast near Cape Leveque. As a young man he learnt hunting and bush skills, and when he was 15 he travelled through the Northern Territory to Alice Springs. He settled at Hermannsburg Mission for six years, before returning to his own community to receive initiation rites.

Dougal painted the breakaway country and spinifex plains of central Australia where he spent his late adolescent years. He is known for his use of brilliant colours to recreate the vibrant heat and light of his beloved central landscapes.

His work was part of the New Tracks Old Land, an exhibition of contemporary prints from Aboriginal Australia which toured the USA and Australia in 1992-93. His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and Flinders University Museum.

Biography courtesy of The Australian Art Print Network, 2001.
© Australianprints

ATSI region

Kimberley

Sub-region

Kimberley

Specific location

Broome

Last Updated

23 Mar 2021