Martin Dougal

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.

Martin 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 United States and Australia in 1992-1993.

His work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and Flinders University Museum.
Subject & Themes
Breakaway country and spinifex plains of Central Australia
Collections
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide.
NationalGallery of Australia, Canberra.
Group Exhibitions
1992/3 New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring USA and Australia
Bibliography
Butler, R., 1986, ‘From dreamtime to machine time,’ Imprint 21(3-4), 12. (C)
1989, Nothing to Celebrate? Australian Aboriginal Political Art and the Bicentennial, exhib. cat., Flinders University Art Museum.