Go back in time when Brisbane still retained a relaxed pace of life

Kenneth Jack, Australia 1924–2006 / Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953 / Linocut on paper / 15.5 x 21.5cm / Gift of Ross Searle through the QAGOMA Foundation 2021 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kenneth Jack/Copyright Agency

Kenneth Jack, Australia 1924–2006 / Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953 / Linocut on paper / 15.5 x 21.5cm / Gift of Ross Searle through the QAGOMA Foundation 2021 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kenneth Jack/Copyright Agency / View full image

With a population of approximately 480,000 by 1953 (when Kenneth Jack painted Grey Street Bridge), Brisbane in the 1950s still retained a relaxed pace of life compared to its southern capitals (Sydney's population was some 1,800,000), keeping its unique charm as ‘Australia’s biggest country town’ even later during a period of growth and modernisation.

Brisbane lacked any high-rise buildings at the time, the City Hall and its clock tower (illustrated) completed in 1930, was still the most prominent landmark that could be seen, dominating the skyline for 40 years until Brisbane entered the age of the skyscraper in 1970. To get around, people caught trams from the city centre (illustrated) out into the suburbs up until 1969. Shops opened on weekdays from 9 to 5, and closed at 1pm on Saturdays, Sundays were a day for rest or recreation. Saturday and Sunday all-day retail trading wasn't introduced until 2002.

View of Brisbane to the City Hall’s clock tower with the Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse in the left foreground c.1930

View of Brisbane across the South Brisbane Reach of the river to the City Hall’s clock tower with the O'Connor Boathouse & Commercial Rowing Club in the left foreground c.1930 / 99183507293002061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

View of Brisbane across the South Brisbane Reach of the river to the City Hall’s clock tower with the O'Connor Boathouse & Commercial Rowing Club in the left foreground c.1930 / 99183507293002061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

View across Brisbane City c.1950s

View across Brisbane City c.1950s / 99183877469202061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

View across Brisbane City c.1950s / 99183877469202061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Trams in Queen Street, city centre, 1954

Trams in Queen Street, Brisbane, 1954 / 99183678416102061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Trams in Queen Street, Brisbane, 1954 / 99183678416102061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Watch | A portrait of Brisbane, 1954

Therefore, the serene print Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953 by Kenneth Jack (1924–2006) fits perfectly against the backdrop of a laid-back Brisbane in the 1950s. The linocut shows the influence of the contemporary Japanese tradition of Shin-hanga ('New prints'), a movement that emerged in the 1920s in response to increasing artistic exchange with Europe and the United States. Jack has borrowed from the form to capture a corner of the Brisbane River that looks across to Kurilpa Point (now the site of the Gallery of Modern Art – GOMA) and the Grey Street Bridge (renamed the William Jolly Bridge in 1955) with the O'Connor Boathouse & The Commercial Rowing Club featured.

View towards Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse, 1954

View towards O'Connor Boathouse, 1954 / 6137 / Courtesy: Queensland University of Technology

View towards O'Connor Boathouse, 1954 / 6137 / Courtesy: Queensland University of Technology / View full image

Kenneth Jack Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953

Kenneth Jack, Australia 1924–2006 / Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953 / Linocut on paper / 15.5 x 21.5cm / Gift of Ross Searle through the QAGOMA Foundation 2021 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kenneth Jack/Copyright Agency

Kenneth Jack, Australia 1924–2006 / Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane 1953 / Linocut on paper / 15.5 x 21.5cm / Gift of Ross Searle through the QAGOMA Foundation 2021 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kenneth Jack/Copyright Agency / View full image

Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse

Denis O'Connor was one of the most prominent and popular business figures in Brisbane, a successful rower and administrator who served as President of the Commercial Rowing Club, and Queensland Rowing Association, he also assisted with the funding of the new Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse which was named in his honour. The O'Connor Boathouse & The Commercial Rowing Club (illustrated) located at North Quay replaced the original boathouse erected in 1897, and at the time of its opening in October 1905 was the largest in Australia.

Commercial Rowing Club, November 1905

Commercial Rowing Club, Brisbane, 1905

Commercial Rowing Club, Brisbane, 1905 / View full image

Jack’s linocut captures a slice of Brisbane history and features the O'Connor Boathouse, which appears on the riverbank in the mid-ground of the print, announced by the sign 'BOATS & CAN[OES] FOR HIRE'. The building traded as a boathouse at river level, on the second floor a gathering place for spectators of regattas on the Town Reach, a space for functions, and a dance hall which became a hub for Brisbane’s lively dance-band scene in the 1950s and 60s.

Queensland Eights at the Commercial Rowing Club, 1911

Queensland Eights at the Commercial Rowing Club, Brisbane, 1911 / 99183507297302061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Queensland Eights at the Commercial Rowing Club, Brisbane, 1911 / 99183507297302061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Rowing regatta, c.1915

Rowing regatta at Merthyr on the Brisbane River, c.1915 / 99183859034802061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Rowing regatta at Merthyr on the Brisbane River, c.1915 / 99183859034802061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Lost Brisbane

The Boathouse, a Brisbane landmark for 63 years was lost to an arson attack on 1 September 1968, the same evening the nearby Supreme Court Building which opened in 1879 (illustrated) was severely damaged by fire and subsequently demolished. The boathouse was removed to make way for the Riverside Expressway which was opened in July 1976.

Go back in time to discover Brisbane’s forgotten landmarks, delve into our historical past, and uncover unique stories through the work of Australian artists in QAGOMA’s Collection.

Margaret Olley Law Courts, Brisbane 1966

Margaret Olley, Australia 1923-2011 / Law Courts, Brisbane 1966 / Ink and watercolour on paper / 39 x 50cm / Purchased 2019 with funds from the Bequest of Helen Dunoon through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Margaret Olley Art Trust

Margaret Olley, Australia 1923-2011 / Law Courts, Brisbane 1966 / Ink and watercolour on paper / 39 x 50cm / Purchased 2019 with funds from the Bequest of Helen Dunoon through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Margaret Olley Art Trust / View full image

The Supreme Court building, c.1910

The Supreme Court building, North Quay, c.1910 / 99183509979402061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

The Supreme Court building, North Quay, c.1910 / 99183509979402061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Commercial Rowing Club Boathouse & Supreme Court Building, c.1930

View of Brisbane across the South Brisbane Reach of the river to the City Hall’s clock tower with the O'Connor Boathouse & Commercial Rowing Club in the left foreground c.1930 / 99183507293002061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

View of Brisbane across the South Brisbane Reach of the river to the City Hall’s clock tower with the O'Connor Boathouse & Commercial Rowing Club in the left foreground c.1930 / 99183507293002061 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

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

Related Stories

  •
    Read •

    Go back in time to Margaret Olley’s Brisbane

    Margaret Olley (1923-2011) moved to Brisbane when she was 12 and was a boarder at Somerville House school for girls in South Brisbane from 1937 to 1940 where they were quick to recognise Olley’s talents and recommended to her mother that she attend art school. Her friend and fellow artist Margaret Cilento also began formal art studies at the same school. Olley’s journey to becoming an artist began at the Brisbane Central Technical College in 1941 (now Queensland University of Technology). She moved to Sydney in 1943 to enrol in a diploma of art at East Sydney Technical College (later the National Art School), graduating with first-class honours in 1947. In Sydney Olley connected with many Australian art luminaries — such as Russell and Bon Drysdale, Donald Friend and Justin O’Brien — and experimented with a wide range of subject matter for her works, including landscapes, figures and still lifes. Margaret Cilento & Margaret Olley Frequent trips back home to Brisbane also served as inspiration, and she captured many of the city’s buildings in paint. Olley’s well-received first solo exhibition was opened on 30 June 1948 by Russell Drysdale at the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, and four months later she held another successful exhibition at Moreton Galleries, Brisbane. Olley’s growing popularity made her an attractive subject for artists, and William Dobell’s portrait of Olley won the Archibald Prize in 1948 (illustrated). William Dobell ‘Margaret Olley’ 1948 Margaret Olley & William Dobell 1965 Olley set sail for Europe with friend Mitty Lee-Brown in January 1949. Fellow artist Anne Wienholt had generously provided funds for Olley to travel abroad and study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris 1950 (illustrated) resulted from her in time in the French capital, as the academy was situated close to the Luxembourg Gardens. Olley honed her drawing skills by producing a considerable volume of richly detailed pen, ink and wash sketches of buildings observed on her extensive travels. Margaret Olley ‘Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris’ 1950 Margaret Olley in her garden c.1950s In 1953 Olley returned from travelling abroad to her family home in Morry Street, Hill End (now West End) after the sudden death of her father. In the first few years after her return, Olley travelled to Sydney from time to time to meet new artists and renew friendships with Donald Friend, David Strachan and Sidney, Cynthia and Jinx Nolan, and these friends visited her in Brisbane. In Brisbane a lively art circle surrounded Brian and Marjorie Johnstone’s Gallery, where Olley met artists Ray Crooke, Jon Molvig and Charles and Barbara Blackman. A supportive environment for Olley and many other progressive artists of the time was similarly encouraged by the appointment of Robert Haines as Director of the then named Queensland National Art Gallery, and by art historian Dr Gertrude Langer’s writing as art critic for the city’s Courier-Mail newspaper. Margaret Olley at the Johnstone Gallery 1957 Back at the family home in ‘Farndon’, Brisbane no longer seemed quite as stifling. Towards the end of the 1950s Olley opened an antique shop at Stones Corner, an inner southern suburb of the city, and on the way to and home had to change trams. Olley reminisced… I had to change trams at South Brisbane, which was very run-down in those days, full of depressed-looking hotels, real bloodhouses. Trams at South Brisbane South Brisbane 1966 and Victoria Bridge II 1966 (both illustrated) are the subjects of some of her ink and watercolour studies of the area. Not long after, the area would dramatically change. The Victoria Bridge illustrated in Olley’s studies was replaced in 1969 with the current sleek design, the third permanent crossing erected at this location, a portion of the southern pedestrian arch that Olley references remains. Victoria Bridge II is drawn from where the Queensland Art Gallery Melbourne Street Plaza is now situated, and the buildings pictured on the left of Melbourne Street in South Brisbane were demolished toward the end of 1966 to make way for the new and third Victoria Bridge, and those on the right from 1978 for the construction of the Cultural Centre’s Performing Arts Complex. One can imagine Olley sketching these landmarks in South Brisbane while in transit, knowing of the impending demolition and bridge construction to come just months later. However, what Olley didn’t know was just some years later, the area would be claimed for the future new premises of the Queensland Art Gallery. Margaret Olley ‘South Brisbane’ 1966 Contemporary photography of South Brisbane Margaret Olley ‘Victoria Bridge II’ 1966 Contemporary photography of Victoria Bridge The Brisbane of Olley’s youth had changed little in her absence since her return in the early 1950s — the city was still the same large country town on the banks of the meandering Brisbane River. The refuge of ‘Farndon’ would play a pivotal role in Olley’s life, tying her to Brisbane for many years, however the city she knew was changing. The Supreme Court building she recorded in George Street, North Quay in 1966 (illustrated), opposite the current Queensland Art Gallery at South Bank, and once proposed as the future site of the Gallery in 1948, was destroyed by arson in 1968, the remains of the building demolished in 1976 for a new Law Courts Complex. Margaret Olley ‘Law Courts, Brisbane’ 1966 Supreme Court building View to South Brisbane from the Supreme Court building c.1960 Olley left Brisbane two years before the Queensland Art Gallery opened in 1982. Her family home ‘Farndon’ was destroyed by fire in 1980, and Olley moved back to Sydney permanently having already purchased a terrace house in Duxford St, Paddington in 1964 to stay when visiting and an adjacent former hat factory which she renovated to use as a studio. 1982 saw the passing of Olley’s mother Grace, finally breaking the ties to...
  •
    Read •

    Go back in time when Brisbane was a growing city

    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 under construction, and on to Mount Coot-tha in the distance. Bustard employed this high vantage point in many of his deceptions of the city giving him a different perspective on the world. The scene could have been painted from the three-storey Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) Society building (illustrated), but most likely from the large windows of the six-storey Country Press Chambers building behind (illustrated). Besides the City Hall, the view also captures the Tattersalls Club, its distinctive features in the foreground, past the drapers, Thomas Finney and James Isles Queen Street building, with Ascot Chambers — Brisbane’s first steel-framed skyscraper opened just two years before — framing the view on the right. The focus of the painting is on the rooftops and the concentration of the multi-storied buildings, but more distinctly the cranes and the skeletal unfinished spire of the City Hall clock tower giving the impression of a city in development. A billowing cloud of smoke in the distance reinforces the sense of activity and drama. In Brisbane townscape Bustard renders the buildings in simplified blocks of pigment, depicting the light and shadow in broad bands of colour. This simplified decorative style was the face of Modernism in Brisbane at this time. William Bustard at his first solo exhibition, 1931 Bustard was an important figure in the development of art in Queensland from the 1920s to the 1960s, and a founding member of the Queensland National Art Gallery Board of Trustees and Arts Advisory Committee in 1931. A strong advocate for Queensland artists he led by example extolling the need for local artists to capture the unique Queensland light and landscape with Brisbane townscape a fine example of his early style. William Bustard Brisbane townscape 1928 There was intense building activity in Australia’s larger cities like Brisbane during the 1920s and 30s, typified by the construction of buildings such as Brisbane’s City Hall (1920-30), as well as the Grey Street Bridge (1928-32) linking South Brisbane to North Quay, and the Story Bridge (1935-40), linking Kangaroo Point to Petrie Bight, which inspired numerous paintings of the vibrant city. The building of the City Hall (illustrated) was an even more important focus for civic pride, being the highest structure in Brisbane at the time, and a symbol of the modern city that was completed two years after Bustard made his painting. The Grey Street Bridge (illustrated), which was Brisbane’s second river crossing under construction, may have been the site of one of the cranes and whose operation probably caused the cloud of smoke seen in the distance. The Grey Street Bridge officially opened eleven days after the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (19 March 1932). View from the City Hall clock tower, 1928 Official opening of City Hall, 1930 Official opening of Grey Street Bridge, 1932 The buildings depicted in Brisbane townscape Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) Society The original three-storey Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP) building (1885-87) was the company’s Queensland headquarters, situated at 229-239 Queen Street (intersection of Edward Street). The building was demolished by the Society and replaced with a new ten-storey building now known as MacArthur Chambers (1931-34). The building was renamed during the Second World War after General Douglas MacArthur, American Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces for the Pacific Region, who used the building as his headquarters. Country Press Chambers The six-storey office block for the Queensland Country Press Co-operative building (1924-25) was situated at 177 Edward Street on the corner of Elizabeth Street. It sits behind the three-storey Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP) building and was built the year before the ten-storey Ascot Chambers (1925-26). The Country Press Chambers was subsequently demolished. Tattersalls Club The Brisbane Tattersalls Club was founded in 1883 as a sporting club (its name acquired from Tattersalls of London, the Jockey Club founded in 1766). The Club’s new building (1925-26) in Edward Street was opposite the AMP building and just around the corner from Ascot Chambers in Queen Street. Brisbane sculptor Daphne Mayo was commissioned to design a low relief frieze within the Club’s ground floor arcade of shops connecting to Queen Street. The decorative plaster frieze entitled ‘The Horse in Sport’ depicts equine scenes, and is still viewable today. Ascot Chambers Ascot Chambers (1925-26) was Brisbane’s first steel-framed skyscraper and, during its construction attracted attention as Queensland’s tallest building. The building’s owner changed its original name from Vindex House to reflect his passion for horse racing, and with the building coincidentally being sited beside the Brisbane Tattersalls Club. The ten-storey Chambers was situated at 223-227 Queen Street (at the intersection of Edward Street) and was faced in brick with the second and top levels accented with stone-coloured cement facings. The building was demolished in 1995 to make way for the Tattersall’s Club extension. Finney Isles The drapers, Thomas Finney and James Isles (established in Fortitude Valley in 1864,) were one of the leading retail firms in Brisbane selling clothing, furniture and household items. Over time, they expanded to their five-storey building (1909-10) situated at 188-198 Queen Street. The department store complex ‘The big block’ was built in stages between 1909 and 1936 linking Queen and Adelaide Streets. Both buildings still stand today. Supreme Court The distinctive tower of the Brisbane Supreme Court building (1875-79) can be seen among the less distinguished roof tops featured in Brisbane townscape. The Court was built on a site on George and Adelaide Streets with a frontage to the river on North Quay. It was severely damaged by arson in 1968 and its remains were demolished in 1976 to make way for a new Law Courts Complex. City Hall ...
Loading...