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Isaac Walter Jenner / England/Australia 1836–1902 / Brisbane from Bowen Terrace, New Farm 1888 / Oil on board / 14.5 x 21.8cm / Purchased 1995. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Isaac Walter JennerBrisbane from Bowen Terrace, New Farm 1888
On Display: QAG, Gallery 10
Isaac Walter Jenner’s Brisbane from Bowen Terrace, New Farm 1888 is interesting not only in the quality and detail of the painting — especially in the rigging of the ships, which testify to his love and knowledge of the sea — but also for its depiction of early Brisbane.
The comparison with how the area has changed is remarkable — rather than ships’ masts, this skyline is now dominated by the Story Bridge. Jenner’s light and cloud effects create a painting that is intimate, while still depicting the busy shipping lane Brisbane once was.
The main ship in the painting is the RMS Quetta, which was regularly used on the London–Brisbane ocean mail service. In 1890, two years after Jenner completed this painting, the RMS Quetta sank in the Torres Strait.
Isaac Walter Jenner holds an important place in Queensland’s colonial art history. Self-taught, he had some success in England before moving to Brisbane in 1883. Jenner was a founding member of the Queensland Art Society in 1887 and lobbied consistently for the establishment of a national gallery in Queensland.
Jenner taught art at Miss O’Connor’s School, Oxley, and from 1887 had a private teaching studio at the Brisbane Technical College. His studio at Taringa attracted leading Queensland artists and he is known to have encouraged artist JJ Hilder.
When the Queensland National Art Gallery opened in 1895, Jenner was one of the first three artists to present a painting to the gallery: Cape Chudleigh, Coast of Labrador 1893, reworked 1895.