Though in his early career he painted a wide variety of subjects, he is best known for his watercolour Australian Outback landscapes. Whilst his work is obviously the product of his life and experiences, his paintings are not in the highly symbolic style of traditional Aboriginal art; they are richly detailed depictions.
Born on a Christian mission in the Northern Territory, he was a member of the Arunta community and eventually became an elder within it. His art came to the attention of the wider community in 1936, when aftist Rex Battered, who had tutored Namitjira in Western art, helped to organise an exhibition of his work.
Namitjira's work is on public display in most of Australia's major art galleries.