Go back in time to Brisbane’s pioneering days

Sun 29 Oct 2023

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).

Isaac Walter Jenner Sketch for ‘Slab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Queen Street, c.1894

Treasury Building, Queen Street, c.1890

The site of the slab hut is now that of the Royal Brisbane Hospital — we know this as Jenner kept location and composition notes — but even at the time of the painting’s execution, this rough timber dwelling would have been regarded as a passing record of Brisbane’s pioneering days. The composition of the derelict cottage would have even then contrasted starkly with the newly constructed homes and hospital in the growing suburb named after Governor Bowen (illustrated).

Bowen Hills photographed from the site of the Royal Brisbane Hospital, 1891

Exhibition Building at Bowen Hills, 1900

The cottage in disrepair speaks of Brisbane’s earlier years, with a shingled roof and axe-split fence. Shadows cast from the fence suggest it was composed either early morning or late afternoon, with sunsets or sunrises being a recurring theme throughout Jenner’s oeuvre. Jenner’s preparatory watercolour is in contrast to this oil composition which is more stylised, with an added rain tank at the side. In the finished work, the horizon of the sky and underbelly of the clouds are accentuated by pink hues, adding weight to the time of day.

Isaac Walter Jenner Slab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894

Edited curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material sourced and compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA