National Wattle Day: A celebration of a floral emblem

Vida Lahey, Australia 1882-1968 / Wattle in a yellow vase (detail) c.1912-15 / Oil on canvas on plywood / 24 x 29cm / Gift of the Estate of Shirley Lahey through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

Vida Lahey, Australia 1882-1968 / Wattle in a yellow vase (detail) c.1912-15 / Oil on canvas on plywood / 24 x 29cm / Gift of the Estate of Shirley Lahey through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA / View full image

In 1988, the year of Australia’s bicentenary, the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was officially gazetted as Australia’s national floral emblem, enjoying a popular acceptance as the national flower long before then.

We’ve been celebrating the Wattle for different reasons over the last century, and in 2020 for the first time, Brisbane is lighting up in yellow to celebrate National Wattle Day, however, it wasn’t until 1 September 1992 that our National Day has been celebrated together in all of Australia’s States and Territories, before then, it was recognised on different days between July (in Queensland) and October depending on its peak flowering season.

So, with the start of the Australian spring on the first of September, wear a sprig of the flowers and leaves to celebrate the day with us. Alternatively, you could go all out and decorate your car in blooms as they did in Brisbane a century ago.

Selling sprigs of Wattle Flowers, 1914

Raising funds during First World War by selling sprigs of wattle on Wattle Day, Courier Building, Brisbane / The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 1 August, 1914 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Raising funds during First World War by selling sprigs of wattle on Wattle Day, Courier Building, Brisbane / The Queenslander Pictorial, supplement to The Queenslander, 1 August, 1914 / Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Wattle Day Procession, 1917

The Queenslander Pictorial p.25, supplement to The Queenslander, 21 July, 1917 / Photograph courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

The Queenslander Pictorial p.25, supplement to The Queenslander, 21 July, 1917 / Photograph courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Vida Lahey ‘Wattle in a yellow vase’

Vida Lahey, Australia 1882-1968 / Wattle in a yellow vase c.1912-15 / Oil on canvas on plywood / 24 x 29cm / Gift of the Estate of Shirley Lahey through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

Vida Lahey, Australia 1882-1968 / Wattle in a yellow vase c.1912-15 / Oil on canvas on plywood / 24 x 29cm / Gift of the Estate of Shirley Lahey through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA / View full image

Vida Lahey (1882-1968) is one of Queensland’s best loved artists, establishing her national profile with her modernist paintings of flowers in the 1920s and 30s.

Australian floral subjects have been popular since the 1890s, and after Australia attained nationhood through the federation of its six states in 1901, sentiments of national pride, and patriotism soon developed with the Wattle a favourite floral subject and emblem of Australia.

In Lahey’s lifetime, the Wattle flower was a favourite subject, with the Wattle Day League founded in Sydney in 1909, and a Queensland branch of the Wattle Day League established in 1912 by Mrs Josephine Papi. Her husband, Ferdinand, was an associate of the Queensland Art Society, of which Lahey was a member, and it is possible that Lahey contributed Wattle in a yellow vase c.1912-15 to a promotional event at the time, which is one of Lahey’s earliest flower studies.

Daphne Mayo and Vida Lahey

Daphne Mayo (right) and Vida Lahey, (middle) c1940s / Daphne Mayo Collection, UQFL119 / Courtesy: The University of Queensland

Daphne Mayo (right) and Vida Lahey, (middle) c1940s / Daphne Mayo Collection, UQFL119 / Courtesy: The University of Queensland / View full image

Besides Vida Lahey’s link to the Wattle Day League in Brisbane with her painting Wattle in a yellow vase, her contemporary Daphne Mayo (1895-1982), another celebrated Queensland artist and one of the country’s leading sculptors of the twentieth century, also had a Wattle connection.

Educated in Brisbane, Mayo received a Diploma in Art Craftsmanship from the Brisbane Central Technical College in 1913, and during her time at the College, Mayo was influenced by LJ Harvey who initiated her interest in modelling. She further developed her skills when she was presented with an opportunity to go to London in 1919 (her departure from Brisbane being delayed for some years by the First World War) where she was accepted into the Sculpture School of the Royal Academy. Mayo had been awarded the Wattle Day travelling art fellowship in 1914, provided by the Queensland Wattle League.

Mayo can be seen at the (old) Town Hall (illustrated) on Brisbane’s second Wattle Day in July 1914. Mayo is dressed as a wattle maid in the centre foreground. The Mayoress of Brisbane and the Central Committee of the Queensland Wattle Day League accompany her.

Mayo and Lahey were active in Queensland art affairs over a long period, both were involved with the Queensland Art Gallery in various capacities and helped to establish the Queensland Art Fund (founded in 1929) with the aim of acquiring major works for the Gallery’s collection.

Daphne Mayo as a wattle maid

Daphne Mayo (dressed as a wattle maid, the centre foreground) participating in Wattle Day celebrations in Brisbane, 1914. Mayo was awarded the Wattle Day travelling art fellowship in 1914, provided by the Queensland Wattle League / Courtesy: State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Daphne Mayo (dressed as a wattle maid, the centre foreground) participating in Wattle Day celebrations in Brisbane, 1914. Mayo was awarded the Wattle Day travelling art fellowship in 1914, provided by the Queensland Wattle League / Courtesy: State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Brisbane Town Hall

Brisbane’s Old Town Hall, Queen Street, 1930s / Courtesy: Queensland State Archives

Brisbane’s Old Town Hall, Queen Street, 1930s / Courtesy: Queensland State Archives / View full image

Edited curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material sourced and compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA

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    Go back in time to Daphne Mayo’s 1914 Wattle Day celebrations in Brisbane

    It’s National Wattle Day on the first day of September, and we’ve been celebrating the Wattle for different reasons for over a century. QAGOMA has a sculpture in its Collection by artist Daphne Mayo that has a special connection to the Queensland Wattle League dating back to 1914. Daphne Mayo (1895–1982) is one of Queensland’s most significant twentieth century artists. Mayo was an outstanding sculptor and creator of some of Brisbane’s grandest monuments, notably the Brisbane City Hall tympanum (opened 8 April 1930) (illustrated) and the Queensland Women’s War Memorial at Anzac Square (unveiled 24 March 1932) (illustrated), as well as a passionate advocate for the arts, including the establishment of the Queensland Art Fund, the John Darnell Bequest, and the Godfrey Rivers Trust, which transformed the Queensland Art Gallery Collection through the purchase of works. Daphne Mayo working on the Brisbane City Hall tympanum, 1930 Daphne Mayo working on the Queensland Women’s War Memorial, 1932 Educated in Brisbane, Mayo received a Diploma in Art Craftsmanship from the Brisbane Central Technical College in 1913, and during her time at the College, Mayo was taught by Godfrey Rivers, however she was also influenced by LJ Harvey who initiated her interest in modelling. At College Mayo created a copy of the masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era — Winged Victory of Samothrace — (illustrated) which was awarded the Wattle Day Travelling Art Fellowship in 1914, provided by the Queensland Wattle League. The Wattle Day League formed in 1909 and sold sprigs of wattle to raise funds for charitable causes, such as art training in Europe. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 the League shifted its efforts to the home front and focussed on raising funds for the troops overseas and commemorating the war. Daphne Mayo with her sculpture ‘Winged Victory of Samothrace’, 1914 Daphne Mayo participating in Wattle Day celebrations, 1914 Raising funds on Wattle Day, 1914 ‘Wattle Day’ badges Mayo can be seen at Brisbane’s old Town Hall (illustrated) on Brisbane’s second Wattle Day in July 1914. Mayo is dressed as a wattle maid in the centre foreground. The Mayoress of Brisbane and the Central Committee of the Queensland Wattle Day League accompany her. Mayo further developed her skills with this opportunity to go to London in 1919 — her departure from Brisbane delayed by the First World War — where she was accepted into the Royal Academy of Arts Sculpture School. Before she left, the Queenslander profiled her award and work ‘Miss Mayo is the first art student to be despatched by the Brisbane Wattle Day League under its scholarship scheme to study abroad. She has chosen sculpture as her specialty’ (illustrated). Daphne Mayo’s ‘Queenslander’ profile, 1919 Daphne Mayo, 1919 Mayo modelled Sketch (of a boy) (illustrated) soon after entering the Royal Academy in December 1920. In her words, it symbolises ‘the awakening from childhood into youth’ and was ‘only a month’s study at 1 3/4 hours a night, so it is not carried nearly as far as it could be’, hence its title Sketch. Under the terms of her travelling scholarship awarded by the Queensland Wattle Day League, the figure was forwarded to the League which, in turn, presented it to the Queensland Art Gallery in 1923. Mayo would return to Brisbane in June 1925. Daphne Mayo ‘Sketch (of a boy)’ Daphne Mayo at the Royal Academy of Arts Edited curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material sourced and compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
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Central Railway Station The Central Railway Station was the second inner-city station after Roma Street which had served as Brisbane’s main terminus from 1875. The new centrally-located station on the corner of Ann and Edward Streets opened in 1889 with a timber and galvanised iron building (illustrated) as part of the connection from Roma Street Railway Station through to Central and on to the North Coast line connecting regional Queensland with Brisbane. Central Railway Station under construction c.1900 Central Railway Station vaulted roof platform construction 1901 The building that Lahey painted was completed in 1901, the Ann Street facade remains intact today (illustrated) while the vaulted roof over the platforms highlighted in Sultry noon was added not long after. The final section of the North Coast line was completed in 1924 finally linking Brisbane with Cairns. 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