On 18 September 1894 local artist and president of the Queensland Art Society, R Godfrey Rivers, sent to the Queensland Government a full proposal for a State Art Gallery, Rivers noted that the Government was already in possession of a number of fine engravings. He suggested in his proposal that about fifty be mounted and…
Continue reading » “Queensland’s National Art Gallery: The opening Collection”
In 2022 as we celebrate 40 years of the Queensland Art Gallery at South Bank, it is fitting to note that when the new building designed by Robin Gibson opened in 1982, it occurred in the same year as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vida Lahey1, described as ‘an indefatigable advocate for art…
Deep water, Bobbin Head c.1942 (Illustrated) on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13) is a work that held special meaning for modernist Grace Cossington Smith, the artist captures the landscape at Bobbin Head, near her North Sydney home, in broad brushstrokes and iridescent colour. Grace…
Winifred Rumney’s Barron Falls 1906 is a powerful painting capturing the raging waters in minute detail after substantial rainfall, the artist acknowledging the power of the forces of nature. The Falls became one of the most popular tourist attractions in Queensland after the Kuranda Scenic Railway opened in 1891, allowing visitors to access its natural…
Continue reading » “Barron Falls: Reflecting on the forces of nature”
The time Charles Blackman (1928-2018 ) spent in Queensland was central to his development as one of the most important Australian artists of his generation. It was during his early visits to Brisbane first in 1948 and then regularly from 1951, that the artist experienced the sense of intense personal discovery that was to launch…
Continue reading » “Interior view encapsulates Charles Blackman’s new love and muse”
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 » “Go back in time to Max Dupain’s Anzac Square, Brisbane”
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.