These depictions of creatures from another age were based on scientific knowledge of the day, as works of art however, they are representative of moments frozen in time.
During the construction of the Richards Building for the School of Geology, murals were designed to be included both inside and outside the building. |
 Click on image to view detail
Designed by Geology Department staff including Frederick William Whitehouse and Dorothy Hill, carved by John Theodore Muller, c1950
Image: Fryer Library Photograph Collection UQFL466_AC_P_70 |
The sandstone frieze which is situated above the entrance to the Richards Building was carved by John Theodore Muller, who was responsible not only for this work, but all the stone carving at St Lucia between 1939 and 1953. He also assisted well known sculptor Daphne Mayo with the construction of the Brisbane City Hall tympanum. The frieze is carved out of sandstone and depicts dinosaurs in a landscape of Jurassic vegetation. |
Three murals were painted for the inside of the "Old Geology Museum", the first two by Don Cowen and Quentin Hole, in 1951 and 1952. The museum has since been relocated but the murals remain intact. |
The first mural, The Age of Reptiles is a continuous panoramic strip moving through a vast period of time from left to right. This panorama has been done on a huge scale of some 15 metres in length and can only be viewed by entering the laboratory that now takes the place of the old geology museum.
Detailed water-coloured preliminary sketches for this panoramic mural are held by the Fryer Library. UQFL459
1. The Age of Reptiles, 1951 by Don Cowen and Quentin Hole. Oil on concrete, 15.24m wide x 0.9m high. |
Click on image to zoom. Photograph by Mark Sherwood, Fryer Library |
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The second mural The Age of Mammals depicts animals that have lived and developed in Australia in the last million years. Its size and position at the end of the room make it far more visible than the first mural.
A preliminary painting for the mural is held by the Fryer Library. It is interesting to compare the artwork with the actual mural, and ponder why some features were not included.
More views of this mural are available from the image gallery featured below.
2. The Age of Mammals, 1952 by Don Cowen and Quentin Hole. Oil on concrete.
[Preliminary painting for mural, oil on canvas, 1200mm x 400mm, held Fryer Library UQFL 459]
Click on image to zoom. Photograph by Mark Sherwood, Fryer Library |
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A third mural, The King of the Sea depicting Kronosaurus queenslandicus was commissioned later to honour Heber Longman (1880-1954), former director of the Queensland Museum. Monies were donated to the University by Irene Longman for a mural representing Kronosaurus queenslandicus, in memory of her late husband.
The mural is currently obscured by office partitioning.
3. Kronosaurus queenslandicus, 1958, Quentin Hole.
Oil on concrete, mural obscured by wall and window.
Click on image to zoom
Photograph by Mark Sherwood, Fryer Library, 2010 |
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Click to view a gallery of the murals inside the Richards Building, taken by Mark Sherwood |
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Notes
1. Kerry Heckenberg, ‘The King of the sea and other stories of prehistoric life at the University of Queensland’, reCollections, v.5 no.1, 2010
2. Thanks to the following for their assistance: Dr Kerry Heckenberg, Associate Professor Sue Golding and Kim Baublys Senior Researcher (Earth Sciences and Stable Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory), Mark Sherwood, photography
Marg Powell, Fryer Library 2010
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