We look back to when Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was established in 1927 by the Reid family as a safe refuge for sick, injured, and orphaned koalas, it was the first such sanctuary of its kind, beginning with just two called Jack and Jill, since then it has grown from these original koalas to over 70 species of Australian native wildlife.
Lone Pine Picnic Park and Native Fauna Zoo as it was originally named (the name change to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was made in 1964 by new owners the Robertson family), was established the year the Model T, sold by the Ford Motor Company ended production, replaced by the Model A. As demand grew for cars in Australia Ford Motors Australia was established in 1925 followed by General Motors Australia the following year. This increased availability of the car allowed for a surge in recreational and leisure driving, and with the opening of the unique picnic park and zoo made the trip a destination for families (illustrated) and artists looking for inspiration further afield.
Lone Pine Picnic Park and Native Fauna Zoo 1927
Lone Pine 1938
The Sanctuary located at Fig Tree Pocket is named after a huge Hoop Pine — Queensland’s tallest native tree — that was planted by the Clarkson family in 1867, their cotton farm was where Lone Pine is today. Early settlers moved to Fig Tree Pocket from the 1860s, first for its timber then for farming and it is believed that the suburb just 9km south-west of central Brisbane, was named after a remarkably large fig tree (illustrated), with the area bounded on three sides by the river, thus creating a land ‘pocket’ (illustrated).
View towards Lone Pine featuring the lone Hoop Pine1931
Lone Pine was originally an 11-acre (4.6 hectare) site, now 18-hectares in total the Sanctuary has developed into a major Brisbane tourist destination, and as it is accessible from the Brisbane River has also become a tradition for over 70 years to make a day trip with Mirimar Cruises (illustrated). Initially marketed as the most beautiful trip in Australia, the tour departs from the centre of Brisbane for a leisurely hour long scenic cruise up the river arriving at Lone Pine to disembark on the shores of the park.
The ‘Mirimar’ on the Brisbane River 1940
Charles H. Lancaster (1886-1959) painted The homestead, Lone Pine (illustrated) in 1945 depicting the original homestead, its simple form silhouetted against a dark mass of trees. Lancaster’s work focused on the landscape of Brisbane and its outer suburbs, the depictions of which, according to contemporary opinion, manifested a ‘quiet toned mellow serenity’.1 Lancaster was not the only artist to travel to Lone Pine for inspiration, many took the opportunity to go on an excursion to the zoo and surrounds, such as Daphne Mayo some ten years earlier (illustrated).
Charles H. Lancaster ‘The homestead, Lone Pine’ 1945
Daphne Mayo modelling a kangaroo 1935
Charles Lancaster
Lancaster was born in Melbourne and studied at the National Gallery School under Frederick McCubbin. When he moved to Queensland he exhibited with the Queensland Art Society from 1914 and was a key figure, serving almost continuously on the committee from 1915 to 1952. Lancaster was also appointed a Trustee of the Queensland (National) Art Gallery from 1939, serving until 1959.
Featured image: Daphne Mayo modelling a kangaroo at Lone Pine Sanctuary, 1935 / UQ:418323 / Image courtesy: Fryer Library, University of Queensland, Brisbane
Meee‑ow — we’ve tried to round up our affectionate and furry four-legged friends, these cute house cats are obviously valued for their companionship — from snuggling to being a source of entertainment, to even manipulating us with their unique language and their contented purrs. It’s an interesting fact that meowing is a vocalisation just for us, cats don’t actually meow at each other so they use this as a bond between humans and animals.
As we know, the cat shares the title with the dog as the world’s most popular companion animals, however as the saying goes… “dogs have owners, cats have staff”… so the perennial question is “do cats love us or just tolerate us”, either way, their owners loved them enough to capture them with their own unique personalities for us to enjoy today.
Visit both the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art to see how many cats and their wild counterparts you can find… and keep an eye out for their lifelong partner, the dog. We also haven’t forgotten the horse.
Harriet Jane Neville-Rolfe ‘Breakfast, Alpha’ 1884
Chinese Style ‘Mandarin pocket’ 1800-1900
Norman Lindsay ‘Cats’ 1919
Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel ‘Sleeping cat’ 1920s
Tsugouharu Foujita ‘Self portrait with cat’ 1930
Kathleen Shillam ‘Cat’ 1950s-60s
Kathleen Shillam ‘Siamese cat’ 1960s
Robert Dickerson ‘Cat at the window’ 1976
Inga Hunter ‘Wallhanging: Cat in a peach tree’ 1980
Elliott Murray is Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
As we celebrate National Wattle Day on the first day of September each year, we delve into two works that include the wattle — with over 1,000 species of acacia Australia-wide, it’s the nation’s largest family of flowering plants. While the flowering times of wattle vary greatly depending on the region, Australia’s national flower — the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) — displays our national colours, green and gold, with flowers from the beginning of Septembersignalling the start of Spring.
The wattle has become a popular symbol of Australia and Australians and can be depicted as a unifying symbol for land and people. The wattle flower is also synonymous — as is the poppy —to acknowledge those Australian service men and women that have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives.
Mavis Ngallametta ‘Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower)’ 2008
Referring to the painting Mo’Yakal 2008 (illustrated), Mavis Ngallametta said ‘White and yellow wattle flowers are all around starting in the Easter month of April with white ones and then finishing with the yellow ones around June.
An elder of the Putch clan and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun (Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland), Ngallametta was one of the most well-regarded senior community-based artists in Australia, depicting her community’s riotous scenes of post-wet season abundance, a climatic phenomenon well known to people who live their lives just feet above the swamp line. Many of Ngallametta’s works were bold and celebratory — with brightly coloured flowers.
ARTISTS & ARTWORKS: Explore more works by Mavis Ngallametta in the QAGOMA Collection
Watch | Delve into ‘Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower)’
Explore the work of Mavis Ngallametta with Katina Davidson, Curator of Indigenous Australian Art, QAGOMA
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
Acknowledgment of Country
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Gallery stands in Brisbane. We pay respect to Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islander peoples, and Elders past and present. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the immense creative contribution First Australians, as the first visual artists and storytellers, make to the art and culture of this country. It is customary in many Indigenous communities not to mention the name of the deceased. All such mentions and photographs are with permission, however, care and discretion should be exercised.
Throughout the 1920s and 30s Queensland artists painted outdoors, their subject matter ranged widely from the beach, the bush, to the city. Vida Lahey was no exception, however during the early 30s Lahey was absorbed by sites around Brisbane and in 1931 painted Sultry noon focusing on the architecture of Brisbane’s Central Railway Station and the buildings in the distance located at the corner of Ann and Edward Streets up to the Turbot Street intersection. Here we go back nearly 100 years to reconstruct the painting.
Why paint a railway station? Vida Lahey (26 August 1882-1968) and fellow Brisbane artist Daphne Mayo (1895–1982) had a long friendship and working relationship. Mayo, an outstanding sculptor worked on the Brisbane City Hall Tympanum — the City Hall built between 1920-30 was opened 8 April that year, however Mayo’s sculpture wasn’t completed and unveiled until eight months after the building was officially opened — followed directly by the Queensland Women’s War Memorial commission at Anzac Square — unveiled 1932. Mayo was working at Anzac Square during the time Lahey painted the Central Railway Station — the Memorial was just opposite in Ann Street — so it is not inconceivable that this subject was chosen during one of her visits to Mayo.
Sultry noon [Central Station] 1931 (illustrated) captures the effects of light and shadow, the formal curves and lines of the station platform are echoed by the shelter roof and rail lines. In the middle distance to the left, the station clock tower leads the eye over and up to the developing city skyline, emphasising the height of the City Hall clock tower — completed the year before and then the tallest structure in the city — while the cloud formations above continue the downward curve.
Lahey sometimes painted works in series as she did with the building of the Grey Street bridge. Sultry noon [Central Station] 1931 is paired with a later painting Central Station 7.00 am c.1935 [Museum of Brisbane] (illustrated), both are studies in tonal values — the earlier work using a range of low key colours from mid-tone hues to black, the latter a range of light value colours from white to mid-tone hues.
Vida Lahey ‘Sultry noon [Central Station, Brisbane]’ 1931
During the Depression in the 1930s, an integrated plan of public works and a system of tolls was conceived and undertaken to both meet some of the financial difficulties and to provide work for the unemployed throughout Queensland. This building boom helped shape the look of Brisbane, many of the building projects still standing continue to give the capital its identity.
Central Railway Station
The Central Railway Station was the second inner-city station after Roma Street which had served as Brisbane’s main terminus from 1875. The new centrally-located station on the corner of Ann and Edward Streets opened in 1889 with a timber and galvanised iron building (illustrated) as part of the connection from Roma Street Railway Station through to Central and on to the North Coast line connecting regional Queensland with Brisbane.
Central Railway Station under construction c.1900
Central Railway Station vaulted roof platform construction 1901
The building that Lahey painted was completed in 1901, the Ann Street facade remains intact today (illustrated) while the vaulted roof over the platforms highlighted in Sultry noon was added not long after.
The final section of the North Coast line was completed in 1924 finally linking Brisbane with Cairns. At the time it was a 52-hour journey and even though the golden age of trains ended in the 1920s, the Queensland railway network hugging the east coast over 1,681-kilometres was the main link to the vast state’s coastal towns and ports that led inland to mining and pastoral centres.
In 1931 when Lahey painted Sultry noon, Central Station was renovated with the expansion of the subway from Ann Street to the recently opened Shrine of Remembrance and Anzac Square opposite (illustrated). The vaulted roof over the station was removed and replaced with awnings over each platform in 1963 (illustrated) and between 1968 and 1984 the station was redeveloped with office towers and hotel over the platforms (illustrated). Today the station is still a major transport hub.
Anzac Square under construction looking toward Central Railway Station 1930
Daphne Mayo working on the Queensland Women’s War Memorial panel c.1932
Anzac Square c.1930-31
Central Railway Station 1930
Central Railway Station’s vaulted roof 1922
Central Railway Station’s vaulted roof replaced with platform awnings 1969
Central Railway Station redeveloped with office towers and hotel 1985
The buildings in ‘Sultry noon [Central Station]’
Both versions of the Central Railway Station reference the city skyline of Brisbane in the early 1930s — highlighted in degrees of detail can be seen from left to right — the Central Railway Station Clock Tower, the Brisbane Fire Brigade Station Bell Tower, the People’s Palace Tower, the recently opened City Hall featuring its Clock Tower, and The Canberra Hotel.
View overlooking Central Station Railway 1931
Brisbane Fire Brigade Station
The Brisbane Fire Brigade (established in 1882) relocated to the purpose-built station (1890) situated on the north-east corner of Ann and Edward Streets — from the opposite corner — until 1908 before the Brigade moved to new headquarters further north to the corner of Ann and Wharf Streets. The building was demolished in 1950 for the construction of the new Government Offices adjoining to Anzac Square.
The People’s Palace
The People’s Palace (1910–11) with its distinctive tower was situated on the south-east corner of Ann and Edward Streets, opposite The Canberra Hotel. It became popular with travellers to Brisbane due to its convenient location, diagonally opposite to the Central Railway Station, and in 1913 extensions were undertaken which involved adding an extra two storeys. The hotel provided inexpensive accommodation with 130 rooms for the working class and was situated across the road from the Temperance Hall before The Canberra Hotel was built.
The Canberra Hotel
The Canberra Hotel (1927-29) was a seven-storey temperance hotel on the south-west corner of Ann and Edward Streets, located directly opposite the People’s Palace. The hotel opened on the site of the old Temperance Hall and became a popular destination for people travelling from regional Queensland to Brisbane, often referred to as the ‘city hotel for country people’. In 1934, it was decided to add three more storeys to the building. The hotel was advertised as ‘Australia’s largest, most modern, best equipped and most successful hotel with over 400 bedrooms, larger than any licensed hotel in Australia. Beside reading lamps, private telephones, and radio in the bedrooms, every bedroom had an outer room with hot and cold running water’. The Hotel was demolished in 1987 after welcoming more than eight million guests to Brisbane.
Brisbane City Hall
The construction of the Brisbane City Hall was the second most expensive activity in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Built between 1920 and 1930, the three-storey building’s clock tower, standing at 87.47 metres houses five bells — four bells weighing over three tonnes that chime every 15 minutes and a 4.3 tonne striking bell that marks the hour. Once the tallest building in Brisbane, its four clock faces on each side of the tower were at the time the largest in Australia at 4.8 metres in diameter. A major feature of the building’s entrance, the tympanum’s relief ‘The progress of civilisation in the State of Queensland’ — the sculptured pediment above the portico and entrance — was carved by Brisbane sculptor Daphne Mayo (illustrated). Covering two acres, the Brisbane City Hall remains the largest city hall in Australia.
Other landmarks in ‘Sultry noon’
Among the buildings at the intersection of Upper Edward and Turbot Streets the original Trades Hall building (1891) in Turbot Street can be identified (illustrated). By the 1920s the trade union required larger premises and a new site was chosen not far north on the same street at the intersection of Upper Edward Street. The building recorded in Sultry noon was demolished in 1967.
Opposite the old Trades Hall building in Turbot Street was the Brisbane Gymnasium (illustrated), above the high rock cutting to the west of King Edward Park and Jacob’s Ladder — the steep set of steps that provided a pathway from Upper Edward Street to Wickham Terrace. The Gymnasium was housed in the building from the late 1880s until the late 1920s when it closed, then demolished in 1938 when a government proposal in the 1930s involved the redevelopment of Wickham Park fronting Turbot Street with an ambitious project of three new public buildings: a Dental Hospital, new premises for the National Art Gallery and Public Library. The Dental Hospital (1941) was built but not the Art Gallery and Library (illustrated).
The buildings to the right (illustrated) on the rise closest to Central Station in 1931 were occupied by the Queensland Railways Auditor and Accountant Offices, and the Drawing and Survey offices, including the Telegraph Engineers offices, and from 1936 the buildings tenant was the Queensland Railways Institute, the railway social club and history group.
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
Proposal for Wickham Park Dental Hospital, Art Gallery and Public Library 1938
Brisbane Dental Hospital 1940
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
In an array of breeds, shapes and sizes, from wild dogs, to the valuable working dog, and the unconditional love of the house dog, QAGOMA has it all — so we’ve selected just a few artworks on display — we’ll let you find even more when you next visit us, plus we’ve added some of our Collection favourites currently in storage as we just couldn’t leave them out, as they say… life’s better with a dog in your life. We also haven’t forgotten their four-legged friends, check out our blog on cats and horses.
This charming gold and pearl bracelet on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, is a lovely example of work by the Brisbane firm Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey, and represents the local jeweller’s skill as well as providing a glimpse of Queensland’s history.
The gold bracelet is the most significant piece of Queensland jewellery to come to the Gallery’s notice. The delicacy and refinement of the bracelet suggests that it may have been a special commission, consisting of nine shells fashioned from Australian gold, each set with a small natural pearl, linked together with a larger detachable shell and pearl at the centre.
A newspaper advertisement in 1902 stated that Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey cut and polished gemstones and dealt in Queensland sapphires, opals and pearls; the pearls in this bracelet were probably harvested in north Queensland. Pearling was the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s — in 1896, for instance, Thursday Island was home to 300 Japanese pearlers, a Japanese consul was based in Townsville, and pearling was the only industry ever exempted from the White Australia policy.
The cast shell forms in this bracelet have a connection with Queensland: according to Dr John Healy, Curator Mollusca at the Queensland Museum, the shells are most likely from a Turbo snail (either Turbo brunneus or Turbo intercoastalis), as both have spirally grooved shells and a wide distribution, which takes in Queensland coastal waters.
Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey Ltd
Flavelle Bros. & Co was originally established in Brisbane in 1863. James Nash, the discoverer of the Gympie goldfields in 1868, brought the first consignment of 621 ounces of gold to Brisbane for Mr Flavelle to test and weigh. The resultant financial stimulus to the colonial economy put Queensland on the map. The firm later became Flavelle Bros. and Roberts before establishing itself as Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey in 1892, and opening a Rockhampton branch in December 1894. It moved to larger premises in the main street, East Street, within two years, and was still operating there more than 30 years later. Although largely a retail business, their silversmithing, watchmaking and optical work suggests that they were more than able to make jewellery as well as sell it, in Brisbane if not Rockhampton.
Franco-British Exhibition, London
Indeed, by 1908, they described themselves as ‘manufacturing jewellers’. That year, for the Queensland Court of the Franco–British Exhibition in London, a promotional adjunct to their display of Queensland gemstones, titled ‘From Outer Darkness’, included reports of their exhibit at the ‘Melbourne Exhibition of Women’s Work’ in the previous year. This attracted the attention of Queen Alexandra. As a further mark of esteem, in 1909 the firm was appointed as gem merchant to Australia’s Governor General, the Earl of Dudley.
From the very beginning of the business, they had imported the finest English porcelains, and in later years, established a local reputation for Royal Worcester porcelain decorated with floral studies, after designs by Marian Ellis Rowan. Over the decades, Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey was a worthy competitor to rival businesses like Hardy Bros. and Wallace Bishop, but eventually closed in 1949.
The bracelet is on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.