Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s

164 Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s 165 JOE ROOTSEY Barrow Point man Joe Alimindjin Rootsey lived a remarkable life before dying from tuberculosis at the age of 45, leaving behind a cache of watercolours that establish his connection to the Country where he was born, raised and worked. A member of the Amu Wuriingu clan — Traditional Owners of the lands around Barrow Point in north Queensland’s Cape Melville National Park — Rootsey was indentured into the pastoral industry as a boy. He worked as a cattleman on various stations before contracting the disease that would claim his life. When Rootsey was confined by his illness to Cairns Base Hospital in 1954, he began sketching the Country he had journeyed over as a jackeroo, including the route between Laura, Lakeland and Cooktown. His artworks attracted the interest of medical social worker Joan Innes Reid who encouraged his artistic pursuits. 1 After Rootsey’s watercolours were shown in the Cairns Show in 1957, the Department of Native Affairs invited him to enrol at the Central Technical College. 2 Under regulations then in place in Queensland, Rootsey’s income was managed by the Department; however, his flourishing artistic career enabled him to live relatively independently. While the press inevitably compared Rootsey’s paintings to the watercolours of renowned Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira, Rootsey’s paintings capture the distinguishing qualities of north Queensland, including the earthy tones of Country inland of Cape Melville and the vibrant colours of the coast. Paintings such as (Looking over Cooktown) c.1958 (p.204) reveal Rootsey’s appreciation for the region’s distinctive tropical landscape. Notes 1 Bruce McLean, ‘Joe Rootsey: Queensland Aboriginal Painter 1918–63’, in Bruce McLean & Diane Hafner, Joe Rootsey: Queensland Aboriginal Painter 1918–63 , Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2010, p.15. 2 McLean, p.16. Joe Rootsey , (Road from Cooktown to Lakeland) 1959