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SUBURBIA: A reorganised forest

Brisbane suburbia

Brisbane author David Malouf once described Brisbane suburbia — the inside-out quality of timber Queenslander-style houses — as ‘like living in a reorganised forest’.1 The urban verandah is such a signature of Queensland architecture that settler poets wrote odes to them as early as 1875 (see J Stephens’s ‘From an Upper Verandah’)2 — but the realities of Brisbane living are ever-evolving. This feature draws together depictions of domestic life in the River City from across the QAGOMA Collection.
 

Glen O'Malley / Australia QLD b.1948 / Good Friday 1987, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane – Gerard and his girlfriend hung out his washing (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1987 / Gelatin silver photograph on paper / Purchased 1987 with the financial assistance of the Australian Bicentennial Authority to commemorate Australia's Bicentenary in 1988 / © Glen O'Malley

 

Artwork (Woman, baby and three children in front of Brisbane shingle-roofed house) this artwork made of Albumen photograph on paper mounted on card

(Woman, baby and three children in front of Brisbane shingle-roofed house) c.1870s
Artwork First house in Brisbane this artwork made of Etching on thick cream handmade wove paper

First house in Brisbane

Artwork First house in Brisbane this artwork made of Etching on thick cream handmade wove paper

First house in Brisbane

Artwork Erin's home, Boggo Queensland this artwork made of Watercolour on paper, created in 1876-01-01

Erin's home, Boggo Queensland 1876
Artwork Sidney House stained glass window this artwork made of Coloured and stained glass window in two panels - the upper (arched) panel depicting a kangaroo hunt and the lower a farming scene, created in 1880-01-01

Sidney House stained glass window c.1882
Artwork Sidney House this artwork made of Watercolour on paper, created in 1890-01-01

Sidney House 1890
Artwork Slab cottage, Bowen Hills this artwork made of Oil on board, created in 1894-01-01

Slab cottage, Bowen Hills 1894
Artwork (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) this artwork made of Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak, created in 1931-01-01

(Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931
Artwork (Front of house and garden, ?7 Ivy Street, Indooroopilly) this artwork made of Cellulose acetate Dufay colour transparency (originally in a glass mount), created in 1935-01-01

(Front of house and garden, ?7 Ivy Street, Indooroopilly) c.1938
Artwork (?7 Ivy Street, Indooroopilly with bougainvillaea, Rosemary at corner of house) this artwork made of Cellulose acetate Dufay colour transparency (originally in a glass mount), created in 1935-01-01

(?7 Ivy Street, Indooroopilly with bougainvillaea, Rosemary at corner of house) c.1938
Artwork ('Pen-y-bryn', front of house and garden) this artwork made of Cellulose acetate Dufay colour transparency (originally in a glass mount), created in 1935-01-01

('Pen-y-bryn', front of house and garden) c.1938
Artwork Backyard this artwork made of Pen and red ink with red ink wash and red pencil on paper, created in 1940-01-01

Backyard 1940
Artwork (Woman sitting on a garden seat reading) this artwork made of Watercolour on cardboard, created in 1940-01-01

(Woman sitting on a garden seat reading) c.1940s
Artwork has not been digitised or not available due to pending copyright clearence, thus not currently available online

Beach houses 1941
Artwork A Brisbane bedroom this artwork made of Watercolour, pen, ink and gouache on paper, created in 1944-01-01

A Brisbane bedroom 1944
Artwork Back of houses, Spring Hill this artwork made of Oil on composition board

Back of houses, Spring Hill c.1945
Artwork Venetian blinds this artwork made of Watercolour over pencil on smooth wove paper, created in 1946-01-01

Venetian blinds c.1946-51
Artwork Interior (Ann Grant's bedroom) this artwork made of Watercolour over pencil on paper, created in 1948-01-01

Interior (Ann Grant's bedroom) 1948
Artwork (Self-portrait in front of a boarding house, Spring Hill) this artwork made of Oil and enamel on cardboard, created in 1951-01-01

(Self-portrait in front of a boarding house, Spring Hill) 1951
Artwork House at Annerley Junction this artwork made of Gouache on paper, created in 1951-01-01

House at Annerley Junction 1951
Artwork Study for 'Street in Spring Hill' this artwork made of Gouache on paper, created in 1953-01-01

Study for 'Street in Spring Hill' 1953
Artwork Shadow pattern this artwork made of Watercolour on wove paper, created in 1948-01-01

Shadow pattern c.1953
Artwork Suburb with storm approaching this artwork made of Watercolour and gouache on buff wove paper, created in 1960-01-01

Suburb with storm approaching c.1960s
Artwork Good Friday 1987, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane - Gerard and his girlfriend hung out his washing (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 1987-01-01

Good Friday 1987, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane - Gerard and his girlfriend hung out his washing (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1987
Artwork Sheila Giles, given the gift of healing, Brisbane (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 1986-01-01

Sheila Giles, given the gift of healing, Brisbane (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1986-87
Artwork Elvira Carmilla Aili, retired, Brisbane (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 1986-01-01

Elvira Carmilla Aili, retired, Brisbane (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1986-87
Artwork 14 March 1987, Red Hill, Brisbane - The O'Malleys were invited to lunch at the Pooles (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 1987-01-01

14 March 1987, Red Hill, Brisbane - The O'Malleys were invited to lunch at the Pooles (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1987
Artwork 13 March 1987, Gordon Park, Brisbane - Jenny watered the plants on her verandah in the morning (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 1987-01-01

13 March 1987, Gordon Park, Brisbane - Jenny watered the plants on her verandah in the morning (from 'Journeys north' portfolio) 1987
Artwork Play the homeless game (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) this artwork made of Screenprint on paper, created in 1989-01-01

Play the homeless game (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) 1989
Artwork Home is where the heart is (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) this artwork made of Screenprint on paper, created in 1989-01-01

Home is where the heart is (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) 1989
Artwork West End - no room for re-development (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) this artwork made of Screenprint on paper, created in 1989-01-01

West End - no room for re-development (from Tenants' Union of Queensland project) 1989
Artwork has not been digitised or not available due to pending copyright clearence, thus not currently available online

Sale of the century (from 'A Rake's Progress' series) 1989-90
Artwork "House at Graceville." Brisbane. 1970. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 2003-01-01

"House at Graceville." Brisbane. 1970. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) 2003
Artwork "Me and Alan, living room. Graceville." 1986. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 2003-01-01

"Me and Alan, living room. Graceville." 1986. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) 2003
Artwork "Mother in living room. Graceville." 1986. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) this artwork made of Gelatin silver photograph on paper, created in 2003-01-01

"Mother in living room. Graceville." 1986. (from 'About my mother' portfolio) 2003
Artwork Anne Wallace this artwork made of Colour digital print on paper, created in 2004-01-01

Anne Wallace 2004, printed 2013
Artwork Whynot St, West End this artwork made of Oil on plywood, created in 2014-01-01

Whynot St, West End 2014
Artwork Frank’s horse this artwork made of Type C photograph on paper, created in 2020-01-01

Frank’s horse 2020

  1. David Malouf, ‘Boyer Lecture 4: Monuments to time‘ [ABC Radio National broadcast transcript], viewed May 2024.
  2. James Brunton Stephens, in Zenobia Frost, ‘"According to our bond": The poetics of share house place attachment in Brisbane‘, Research Paper, Master of Philosophy by Creative Works, Queensland University of Technology, 2019, p.56.


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