Go back in time to 1928 when Brisbane was a growing city

On display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13) Brisbane townscape 1928 (illustrated) by William Bustard (1894-1973) depicts a growing city in a construction boom establishing itself as a state capital. We look over rooftops toward Queen Street from Edward Street, to the City Hall clock tower…

Go behind-the-scenes as we reframe ‘Red-tailed Black Cockatoos’

We delve into a major reframing project for prominent Queensland ornithological artist and taxidermist Anthony Alder’s (1838-1915) painting Red-tailed Black Cockatoos c.1895 currently on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art collection. Anthony Alder (Standing 3rd from the right) DELVE DEEPER: Go behind-the-scenes as we conserve ‘Red-tailed Black Cockatoos’ The oil on canvas Red-tailed…

Step back in time to Brisbane’s pioneering days

This watercolour (illustrated) is a preparatory sketch for the oil painting Slab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894 (illustrated). Isaac Walter Jenner (1836-1902) was interested in the picturesque subject rather than Brisbane’s impressive commercial and public buildings that were already embellishing Queen Street, the main thoroughfare of the city of Brisbane (illustrated). ‘Sketch for ‘Slab cottage, Bowen…

Step back to an earlier time when Brisbane was named after a river

The Brisbane River and Moreton Bay have continually shaped south-east Queensland’s history. From the time of the First Australians for the Turrbal and Jagarra people, the river, known as Maiwar, has been a meeting place, a highway and a source of food. A critical conduit for early settlement and subsequent industry and development, the winding…

Isaac Walter Jenner: A force in Brisbane’s cultural life

The exhibition ‘A Feeling for Light’ at the Queensland Art Gallery from 2 September 2023 until 28 January 2024, explores the evocative paintings of Isaac Walter Jenner (1836–1902), a self-taught marine and landscape painter. Following his arrival in Brisbane in 1883 (illustrated), Jenner spent the last two decades of his life as a major force…

Go back in time to a sultry Queensland afternoon

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…