“Under the Jacaranda” by R Godfrey Rivers

“Under the Jacaranda” by R Godfrey Rivers shows the artist and his wife, Selina, taking tea under the shade of a jacaranda tree in full bloom. It is a quintessential image of early Australia. The location depicted was in Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens and shows the first jacaranda to be grown in Australia, planted in 1864 and flourishing there until it was blown down in 1979.

The majestic jacaranda tree in bloom was captured using the contrast of the green vegetation and the red umbrella to emphasise its distinctive purple of the jacaranda. With jacarandas now growing in most Australian suburbs, many of them are the progeny of this first tree.

Jacaranda

The Jacaranda is one of the flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The name is believed to be from an indigenous language of South America, meaning fragrant and was first described in 1753.

Since then, it has been planted widely in Asia and is common in southern California, Florida, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain having been introduced to most tropical and subtropical regions.

On this visit, the painting had dropped some Jacaranda flowers!

Richard Godfrey Rivers

Richard Godfrey Rivers (1858 – 1925) generally known as R. Godfrey Rivers, was an English artist, active in Australia. Rivers completed this painting 13 years after he arrived in Australia from England. He emigrated to Australia in 1889 and taught at several schools and colleges. He was president of the Queensland Art Society and was also honorary curator of the Queensland National Art Gallery from 1895 to 1914.

Explore the Queensland Art Gallery

Li – Chinese Tripod Jar
“Figure with Snow Falling” by Takahashi Hiroaki
“Figure with Parasol, Protect against Snow” by Takahashi Hiroaki
“Under the Jacaranda” by R Godfrey Rivers
“Bathing Hour” (L’Heure de Bain) by E Phillips Fox
Buddha
“Three Dancers at a Dance Class” by Edgar Degas
“La Fontaine” by Rupert Bunny

Reflections

Does this painting capture the jacaranda tree in full bloom?
Why was the first jacaranda tree planted in Australia?