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.
Isaac Walter Jenner / England/Australia 1836–1902 / Slab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894 / Oil on board / 15 x 20cm / Gift of Philip Bacon, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2003 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Isaac Walter JennerSlab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894
Not Currently on Display
Although Isaac Walter Jenner is well represented in the QAGOMA Collection, a substantial proportion of his works are not of Queensland subjects. In recent years considerable interest has developed in the social and historical interpretation of works of art. Slab cottage, Bowen Hills is of particular interest as it documents the development and progress of Brisbane itself.
The site of the slab hut is now that of the Royal Brisbane Hospital, 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, perhaps already touched with nostalgia. The sketch for this work is also in the Gallery’s Collection.
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.
Discussion Questions
1. Jenner’s landscape depicts a scene from the early years of Brisbane. The painting is regarded as nostalgic and romantic. Discuss what these terms mean in relation to this work.
2. What do you value about where and how you live now and how might this be different in another 120 years?
Classroom Activities
1. Using Jenner’s painting as a stimulus, explore how housing and suburban life has changed from living in a 1890s ‘slab hut’ dwelling to the suburban dwellings of today.
2. This hut once stood where the conglomeration of modern and high rise buildings of the Royal Brisbane Hospital now stand. Draw in detail your house as it is today but surround it with what you imagine the buildings and homes might look like 100 years from now. Share your ideas with your class.