The Queensland Art Gallery in Australia has a large collection of early Australian paintings, tracing the settlement of Queensland from British landings to modern times. Originally focused on British settlers’ art, it transitioned to local art due to nationally centered museums in Sydney. The museum has a permanent home since 1982 and expanded to include a modern art collection in 2006. Both galleries operate as one entity and offer rotating exhibits for children.
The Queensland Art Gallery is an art museum in the eastern Australian state of Queensland distinguished by a large collection of early Australian paintings. The artwork in the collection traces the settlement of what is now Queensland from the first British landings to modern times. In 2006, the gallery expanded to also include a modern art collection, known as the Galleria d’Arte Moderna. Consequently, the museum is officially titled Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.
Some of the first European settlers to occupy Australia came from Great Britain. Most arrived as hunted criminals. Over time, the land has become a more attractive place for English families to settle. An original aim of the Queensland Art Gallery was to collect art both imported and created by these early British settlers.
The museum was originally called the Queensland National Art Gallery, partly to reflect its nationalist approach to exhibitions. Over time, however, the museum began to focus more intentionally on art related to the local environment. This transition is due in large part to the development of more nationally centered museums and galleries in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, which is located in the state of New South Wales. Queenslanders looking to distinguish their art from that of Sydney’s galleries began to focus on creating and developing their own state-specific art scene.
The Queensland Art Gallery’s permanent collections represent a subtle progression from artworks that essentially mimic Victorian English styles to new pieces that incorporate local landscapes, societies and traditions. This makes the museum a popular destination for art scholars visiting Australia, as well as local academics seeking to trace how artistic developments have been affected and influenced by settlement and burgeoning national identity. The gallery’s extensive archives of paintings, sketches and sculptures distinguish it among Australian museums as one of the most dedicated to the preservation of art and art history.
As impressive as the museum’s collections are, they had no permanent home until the early 1980s. For just over a century, the museum has existed in a series of rented spaces and temporary galleries. A specially designed museum on the south bank of the Brisbane River opened in 1982. Brisbane is the capital of Queensland.
The gallery’s board decided in the late 1990s to expand the museum to also include a modern art collection, with a particular emphasis on the art of Aboriginal Australian artists. The majority of the works owned by the Queensland Art Gallery are by artists of Anglo-Saxon origin. While these works documented the influx of European settlers, some felt it left out an important aspect of truly Australian art. Armed with an interest in conveying a more three-dimensional representation of the national art scene, the complementary Modern Art Gallery opened in 2006.
Each gallery occupies its own building, but the two operate as one entity. Both feature a range of traveling and temporary exhibitions that offer a comprehensive insight into local Australian art through the ages. Furthermore, these museums and children go particularly well together, as each space hosts different rotating exhibits designed specifically for young people. School groups are often invited for bespoke tours and educational resources are available to all visitors upon request.
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