Pictures | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Pictures

Showing 1 - 12 of 39 results
Painting of chrysanthemums

Ellis Rowan, Chrysanthemums, ca. 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138089294

Australian artist Ellis Rowan primarily worked in watercolour and gouache, and is best known for painting Australian native flowers. She caused a stir at the 1888–89 Centennial International Exhibition in Melbourne when her painting Chrysanthemums won First Order of Merit and Gold Medal. This similar painting, depicting the same type of flower, is a more recent addition to the Library's vast Rowan Collection, the bulk of which was acquired for the nation for £5,000 in 1923.

Pictures collection

Our rich and varied Pictures collection focuses on Australian people, places and events, from early European exploration of the South Pacific to contemporary events.

Information article
Photograph of employees at BHP steelworks viewed through a cast steel tilting frame of a slag post.

Frank Hurley, [BHP Steelworks, Newcastle, 1950, 2], 1950, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-159226742

“A symphony in stone that will long be remembered”: Around Australia with Frank Hurley

Learn about iconic photographer and film maker Frank Hurley and explore some of his photographs from around Australia.

Blog
Grey background with white text reading 'Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Archive' and a black and white photo of two men working on a large ship propeller
Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers.

Exhibition
Black and white photo of damage to a caravan park about Cyclone Tracy, including several large tree branches on the ground and damaged caravans

Alan Dwyer, Caravan park in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, December, 1974, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148903604

Commemorating Cyclone Tracy through images and oral histories

Fifty years on, see how the destruction and impact of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin 1974 is captured in our collection. 

Blog
Watercolour of a bay with a sailboat in the foreground and a large white building in the background overlooking the bay

William Westall, Drawings, 1801, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138873713

Westall Collection

139 pencil drawings and watercolour paintings produced by Westall, all but 2 from the voyage of HMS Investigator (1801-03).  Capturing landscapes, coastal profiles, and Indigenous peoples, these works offer a vivid, accurate record of early Australian encounters. As one of the first professional artists to visit Australia, Westall’s collection is a significant historical and cultural treasure.

Collection guide
Cover of a pamphlet with illustrations

Australian Journalist & John Skinner Prout, The emigrant in Australia, or, Gleanings from the gold-fields, 1852, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-111497902

Prout Collection

Explore the Prout Collection, featuring 2 oil paintings, 41 watercolours, and 38 pencil and wash drawings by John Skinner Prout, created between 1841 and 1848. This collection showcases stunning Tasmanian landscapes, including scenes of Hobart, Mount Wellington, and Port Arthur, alongside views of New South Wales and Victoria. Prout, a self-trained artist who emigrated to Australia in 1840, captured the essence of the Australian landscape, leaving a lasting influence on colonial art.

Collection guide
Illustration of different types of birds, including a cockatoo and kingfisher, sitting on branches

Ellis Rowan & Geo. Murray & Co., Australian birds, c. 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136190048

Paradise of birds

See some of the many talented bird artists from the 19th and 20th centuries in our collection.

Blog
Collection guide
Williamson Collection

The J.C. Williamson Ltd archives include a wide range of materials, such as business records, playscripts, libretti, music, programs, magazines, books, costume designs, and photographs. It also contains personal papers from Williamson's business partners, the Tait family and George Tallis.

Collection guide
A beach on an overcast day with a stream of sunlight and water crashing on rocks. 4 people on the beach in 2 groups with 3 small boats in the background.

Conrad Martens, View nr Charmouth, Dorset, 1825, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134391843

Martens Collection

145 original works of Conrad Martens, consisting of four oil paintings, 91 watercolours, and 51 sepia wash, pencil and wash, or pencil drawings, plus a number of his lithographs

Collection guide
A silver polished kettle with ornate cutouts and inscription and printed crest. It has a tealight underneath.

Charlotte & Edward Barnard, Rebecca Emes, Silver kettle and spirit lamp given by Queen Charlotte to Sir Joseph Banks, 1813, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138405433

Joseph Banks Collection

Sir Joseph Banks was a pioneering botanist and explorer whose travels with Captain Cook helped shape our understanding of the natural world and influenced scientific exploration in Australia.

Collection guide
A group of approximately 20 men cheering and drinking whilst watching a boxing match. One boxer is in a blue shirt and one in a red shirt. A dog is in the foreground laying on the floor.

Samuel Thomas Gill, McLaren's boxing saloon, Main Road, Ballarat, 1854, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134360337

Gill Collection

95 watercolours and about 80 wash, sepia wash or pencil drawings plus a large number of lithographs and chromolithographs engraved by S.T. Gill, as well as wood engravings, lithographs and photolithographs based on his paintings and sketches.

Collection guide
An illustrated book cover with 3 kangaroos and 3 emus in the foreground surrounded by native flora, with a lake and trees in the background

 Joseph Lycett, Views in Australia, or, New South Wales & Van Diemen's Land delineated, in fifty views with descriptive letter press, dedicated by permission to the Right Honble. Earl Bathurst, 1824, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1022559244

Lycett Collection

An album with 20 watercolours and 22 individual watercolours by Joseph Lycett. Most of the pieces focus on studies of Aboriginal people and drawings of native plants.

Collection guide
First Australians

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