The Henry Jones Art Hotel isn’t just a place to rest your head, but it is also a reputable art gallery in Hobart. Housed in Hobart’s oldest waterfront warehouses, our history and the days of Old Wharf dating back to 1823 are firmly part of our hotel’s present.

We invite you to learn more about those who shaped the region, as well as how art is weaved into the fabric of our Henry Jones narrative. Our hotel includes rich colour and unparalleled creativity, making it perfect for all art aficionados.

LOCAL TASMANIAN ARTISTS

Our hotel is Australia’s first dedicated art hotel. We exhibit original contemporary artworks by emerging and established Tasmanian artists. This isn’t your typical hotel art, but handpicked for its authenticity and sense of place. Some of the pieces may challenge, while others will delight.

Art is an important part of The Henry Jones experience, as is its environment and culture. With more than 400 artworks on display, the works are exhibited across the hotel.

You can find art exhibited in:

  • The public spaces
  • The Packing Room Gallery
  • Guest Lounge
  • Art Installation Suite
  • IXL Long Bar
  • Landscape Restaurant and Grill
  • Unique pieces are also featured in every room and suite.


The works that you’ll encounter include pieces by graduates from the School of Creative Arts and Media, independent practitioners and artists represented by some of Hobart’s leading commercial galleries. The collection includes original paintings, prints, works on paper, photo media, sculpture and design.

If you fall in love with a piece, the majority of the artworks at The Henry Jones Art Hotel are for sale. Explore our entire range listed in our Art Catalogue. Stay in touch with our latest edition of Art News and join our Facebook page to receive updates.

The Henry Jones Art Prize

The Henry Jones Art Hotel has long been passionate about pioneering the works of Tasmania’s finest rising contemporary artists. 

This year, the Henry Jones Art Prize aims to showcase exciting new work from artists across the state and will include two $20,000 prizes in the Painting and Mixed Media categories.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to purchase artwork and vote for their favourite, with the artist of the most popular work receiving the $1,000 Peoples’ Choice Prize. There will also be a Packing Room Prize, chosen by the hanging team, providing one lucky artist with $750.

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED.

Find Out More

Art & History Tours

With more than 400 pieces of Tasmanian art on display, staying at The Henry Jones Art Hotel is a little like staying at an art gallery in Hobart. Our Art and History Tour gives you the opportunity to experience our art collection in more depth, allowing you to share in the stories of The Henry Jones site and those who shaped its past.

Hosted by our knowledgeable Art Curator, along with MACq 01 Storytellers, the tour explores the corridors of our hotel. Enjoy a glass of sparkling wine as we explain the contexts of artworks and the deep history etched in the fabric of our heritage buildings. Learn the industry beginnings of The Henry Jones to its place as a contemporary art hotel.

The Henry Jones Art & History tours commence 4pm most days from reception. Tours are complimentary for in-house guests and $20 per person for external guests. Bookings are essential. Please call Concierge on +61 3 6210 7700 or email the Hotel for more information.

*Tour departures may be subject to change. Please check with our Concierge at the time of booking.

Henry Jones Online Art Catalogue

Current Exhibition

LUMINARIES by Suellen Saidee Cook

4 October to 14 November 2024

The moon casts a gentle glow
and a dance of shimmering stars
Shadows play a whispered chase
Veiled in the darkness of the night

I watched and I waited, before stepping into the misty darkness
Memories stir, at first obscured from sight
In the depths of the darkness, the unknown beckons along this mysterious path
Uncertain steps, hesitation
Curiosity tugs at my sleeve, unrelenting
The luminaries look down to unveil the unimagined
The night becomes intoxicating
With the whispered promise of where this path might lead

– Suellen Saidee Cook

LUMINARIES is now available in the Packing Room for viewing.

View the Catalogue

Past Exhibition

Anthophilia – The Love of Flowersby Libby Dyer  

23 August to 3 October 2024

Libby Dyer is an intuitive alcohol ink artist who has been involved in numerous group exhibitions throughout Australia and a finalist in the Henry Jones Art Prize in 2023. She takes inspiration from the beauty of the natural environment and its correlation with the practice of mindfulness. Her current focus is on capturing a moment in time, a feeling, a memory and portraying this in bold and striking colours of flowers, making their beauty almost immortal. Her process involves finding quotes, sayings and even lyrics of songs that resonate with her and pairs them with her love of blossoms. She then allows this inspiration to guide her as she creates, allowing the artwork to naturally unfold before her eyes.

In this series of works, Libby invites art lovers to explore, take a mindful pause, and let each exquisite detail fill your awareness. It’s about finding the connection between the beauty of flowers and allowing your own feelings and memories arise. Libby wants to share with the audience that anthophilia and mindfulness share common ground in the focus on the present moment, sensory awareness, and emotional well-being. Unlike the brief life cycle of a flower, Libby’s paintings have permanence. Permanence you can view and every day, reminding you to breath, connect and feel joy.

 

 


OUR HISTORY

The country on which Hobart is situated was the traditional living, hunting and spiritual lands of the muwinina clan for at least 800 generations. The palawa community of lutruwita (Tasmania) retain a connection to this country that has sustained since time began.

The sun which warmed them, the water which nourished them, the land which sheltered them, is this land. Where they walked and continue walk, we now walk.

For centuries, explorers felt compelled to seek new wonders beyond the horizon. Abel Tasman is credited as the first European to encounter this rocky coastline in November 1642, naming it for his employer, Anthony van Diemen who was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Tasman’s explorations of the area were fleeting and his charts rudimentary, and despite visitations by French and Spanish navigators, it was a further 160 years until British circumnavigation confirmed Van Diemen’s Land to be an island.

In February 1804, Colonel David Collins arrived at Sullivan’s Cove with the ships Ocean and Lady Nelson conveying free settlers, military personnel and some of the first convicts to be transported to Van Diemen’s Land from the British Isles. Many of these men and women had been sentenced to hard labour for committing petty misdemeanours in their home country, but they became instrumental in creating a new settlement. A landing site at Hunter Island (upon which this hotel now stands) was chosen for its deep-water mooring, its proximity to a fresh water supply cascading from the looming Table Mountain (now kunanyi / Mt Wellington), as well as the fact that it was connected to the mainland of Hobart Town by a sandbar that emerged only at low tide, making it the ideal place to safeguard stores from pillage. Within a month, a building and small wharf had been constructed on Hunter Island.

Wool, wheat, and whaling were significant industries in the early days of the new settlement, and the emergence of trade and shipping saw several warehouses and factories established along the wharf. The need for a causeway linking Hunter Island to the shore became apparent as industry grew, and this work was completed in 1820. By 1827, five of the buildings that make up the hotel site were present on the wharf: a depot for immigrants, a storehouse, general store, a ship chandler, and a tavern. A decade later the Hunter Island wharf had increased to more than 20 commercial allotments.

George and Margaret Peacock moved their successful jam-making business to newly acquired Hunter Street warehouses where in 1874, at 12 years of age, Henry Jones presented himself for his first day of work, sticking labels to jam tins. Henry would rise through the ranks of the expanding Peacock empire to eventually take over the business that would one day expand globally and bear his name—H. Jones and Co. Pty. Ltd. IXL Jams.

By the 1990s, following more than a century of jam production, the Hunter Street warehouses had fallen into a state of disrepair. Under the guidance of a local consortium the buildings were revitalised, and in 2004, The Henry Jones Art Hotel opened its doors to guests and visitors.

FEDERAL GROUP TOURISM HOTELS

For more than 60 years, the Federal Group have played a significant role within the Tasmanian community. Today, they provide jobs for over 2,000 Tasmanians. The group continue to invest heavily in the State’s hotel and tourism industry including Wrest Point Hotel Casino, Saffire Freycinet and MACq 01 Hotel.

As with The Henry Jones Art Hotel, each property delivers an undeniable connection to place as well as service excellence. Wrest Point became an Australian first in 1973. Upon its opening, visitors flocked to Sandy Bay to experience the nation’s first legal casino.

Saffire Freycinet adds a new level of luxe to Tasmania’s East Coast with its signature experiences and superior architecture while MACq 01 became the country’s first storytelling hotel, opening in 2017. MACq 01 sits as our closest neighbour here at Henry Jones with 114 rooms depicting the story of Tasmanian characters.