18 19 ARTLINES 3 | 2025 UNDER A MODERN SUN 1930s In 1929, painter and critic Gwendolyn Grant observed wryly that ‘Queensland artists have yet to be infected by the so-called ‘modern art’ movement’.1 Against the backdrop of the Depression and associated hardships, established Queensland artists did adhere to a benign version of Modernism, experimenting with colour and the simplification of form rather than challenging modes of representation. Their position was unsurprising, given the resistance to change expressed within the Royal Queensland Art Society (RQAS), which, at the time, provided the main arena in which to exhibit work. For example, the decorative arts were only included in RQAS exhibitions from 1929, following the appointment of LJ Harvey as a Trustee and at the urging of influential members such as Mayo, Lahey and Bustard. Innovation in painting was similarly mistrusted. For instance, Miles Evergood’s gently experimental postimpressionist landscapes caused unease when they were shown at the Gainsborough Gallery in 1932, despite being modestly priced in deference to the economic downturn.2 Conversely, Bustard’s Summer haze 1937 — featuring an impression of Brisbane bathed in humidity — and Charles Lancaster’s A corner of Brisbane 1937 — with its simplified blocks of colour and strong treatment of light and shade — represented the acceptable face of modernism in Queensland. On the Darling Downs, Kenneth Macqueen brought a contemporary eye to the Australian landscape tradition with crisp, clear watercolours that reflected his commitment to a modernist aesthetic. And in the state’s north, South Australian-born painter Noel Wood, who moved to Bedarra Island in 1936, quickly established a reputation for his light-infused paintings, with the critic for the Cairns Post declaring that Wood had conveyed ‘the dazzling sunlight of the North as no other artist has ever succeeded in doing’.3 Clockwise from top left Charles H Lancaster / A corner of Brisbane 1937 / Purchased 1937; Rose Simmonds / (Grey Street Bridge, Brisbane) c.1933 / Gift of Dr J.H. Simmonds 1982; and Noel Wood / The pathway to Banfield’s old home (Dunk Island) c.1940 / Purchased 1940 Clockwise from top left Gwendolyn Grant / Winter sunshine 1939 / Purchased 1939; Vida Lahey / Calendulas c.1936–37 / Gift of Mrs Maria Theresa Treweeke 1937; Vida Lahey / Building the bridge 1931 / Gift from the estate of Mrs Gladys Powell 1941; and Marjorie Dunstan / Inlaid vase c.1930 / Gift of the artist 1983
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