Adalbert Jackson

This painting captures Fort George, one of Grand Cayman’s most historically significant sites. Once a defensive lookout, the fort’s remaining stone walls and cannons are framed here by the shade of a large tree silent witnesses to centuries of change.

Painted just over a decade after the site was preserved by the National Trust. In the years prior, parts of Fort George had faced the threat of demolition, prompting community members to rally for its protection.

Though little is known about the artist, Adalbert Jackson’s work serves as both painting and record, reflecting a deep reverence for place. Rendered in oil with careful attention to detail, this piece stands as a visual chronicle of a site woven into the collective memory of the island.

This work represents how intuitive artists act as informal historians preserving how Cayman looked and transformed, what it felt like in a particular time. These artistic archives offer nostalgia: they serve as textured, personal accounts of the Cayman Islands’ evolving cultural and environmental landscapes.