Category: River to Bay

Go back in time to a busy corner of the Brisbane River

Posted by Elliott Murray   ●   16 May 2022

George Wishart (1872-1921) was born in Brisbane and was taught painting by Isaac Walter Jenner, Brisbane’s foremost marine painter (illustrated below). Wishart also worked professionally as a photographer and was associated with local firm Thomas Mathewson Photographic Studio (see contemporary depictions of Brisbane below). Wishart’s painting A busy corner of the Brisbane River 1897 (illustrated)…

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Clouds of purple blooms, a quintessential image of Brisbane

Posted by QAGOMA   ●   31 Oct 2021

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…

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Experience Judy Watson’s ‘tow row’ in digital reality

Posted by QAGOMA   ●   9 Sep 2021

QAGOMA’s immersive digital experience animates and illuminates the significance of tow row 2016, the bronze fishing net sculpture by leading Queensland artist Judy Watson on permanent display at the entrance to the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Watson was born in Mundubbera in south-east Queensland and the spirit of much of her work stems from…

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Documenting Queensland’s history through watercolour

Posted by QAGOMA   ●   4 Jun 2021

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…

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JA Clarke’s grand picture of Brisbane

Posted by Judith McKay   ●   12 Mar 2021

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…

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