In 1928 a competition for the design of a Shrine of Remembrance (illustrated) in Brisbane was won by Sydney architects Buchanan and Cowper. Construction proceeded over the following two years with Anzac Square opening on Armistice Day in 1930. The Shrine honours the men and women of Queensland who served abroad and at home in…
Continue reading » “Back through time: Max Dupain’s Anzac Square, Brisbane”
Few works in our Collection have enjoyed as much popularity as Under the jacaranda by R. (Richard) Godfrey Rivers. Painted in 1903, some twelve years after the British-born artist arrived in Queensland, the image depicts Rivers and his wife Selina sitting in the shade of a large jacaranda tree, at that time a landmark in Brisbane’s…
Continue reading » “Clouds of purple blooms, a quintessential image of Brisbane”
Watercolours feature in the earliest records of European exploration and settlement of Australia. Its continuous presence in the history of Queensland art has changed and evolved with shifts in culture, as well as with the demands and innovations of its practitioners. We look at the medium’s important role in enriching Queensland’s visual history. Together with…
Continue reading » “Documenting Queensland’s history through watercolour”
Public collections in Queensland have few outstanding examples of the work of our early artists. Of the major works dating from the 19th century, the Panorama of Brisbane 1880 by JA (Joseph Augustine) Clarke (1840–90), Queensland‘s first professional artist and art teacher, is undoubtedly the best known and most significant.1 Visit the nearly 4–metre–long panorama…
Continue reading » “JA Clarke’s ‘grand picture’ of Brisbane”
It’s that time of the year in Brisbane when purple reigns with a lavender canopy covering the city from October to November — and of course, our own version, captured in oil — a signal that spring is here and summer is on its way. The jacaranda painted by R. (Richard) Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) is…
Continue reading » “What is under the jacaranda: Keeping the painting under glass”
It’s Jacaranda season in Brisbane, the time of year that splashes of fluorescent lavender coloured blooms dot the landscape and end with an eye-catching display of purple rain. Even though the flowering season is only a couple of months, the Gallery’s painting Under the jacaranda 1903 by R. (Richard) Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) is always in full…
Continue reading » “What’s under the Jacaranda: Hidden in the X–rays”