Visual arts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Visual arts

Showing 37 - 48 of 51 results
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
A painting of an Indian bullock cart being drawn by two white oxen with large, curved horns. A man dressed in red sits on the front of the cart guiding the oxen, while another man in traditional attire is seated comfortably under a domed canopy in the back of the cart. The backdrop features a muted evening sky with distant mountains, adding to the serene and regal atmosphere of the scene.

 Augustus Earle, A bullock hackery or cow coach of India, 1829, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134513680

Earle Collection

168 original paintings and drawings by Augustus Earle.

Collection guide
Blue velvet structural artwork on a white pedestal in the Library foyer
Canberra Art Biennial on display at the Library

For the next 4 weeks, the Library is one of 20 locations hosting contemporary mixed media artworks as part of the Canberra Art Biennial.

News article
A black and white image of two women. One is seated and the other is standing with her arm around the seated woman.

Students of Taisei Girls High School in Japan c.1944. Photo courtesy of Harue Goto.

Grief in World War II expressed in art and fashion with Dr Tets Kimura

Dr Tets Kimura presented a lecture on his 2023 National Library Fellowship research into how grief was experienced during the Asia-Pacific War in two different nations, Australia and Japan, and how it is identifiable in art and fashion.

Event
Video
A green background with the 2018 Australia Post logo printed on it.

Ian 'Spike' Farrawell, Mail Bag (Plastic - Light Green with metal ringlets at top), Collection of cards documenting Australia Post mail bag designs from between 1986 to 2021, nla.obj-3381748997

Collection of Australia Post mail bag designs

Ian 'Spike' Farrawell recently donated a set of his Australia Post mailbag card designs to the Library.

News article
Special collections reading room Sam Wallman 2023 creative arts fellow
The Pink Bans: Labour union activism and LGBTIQA+ rights

Hear from comics-journalist, cartoonist and 2023 Creative Arts Fellow Sam Wallman about his research at the Library.

Blog
Whats On Kate Warren Fellowship presentation_0.jpg

Watch Dr Kate Warren's Fellowship presentation titled 'Cut-out-and-keep: magazines and the popularisation of Australian art in the 1950s and 1960s'.

Q&A with 2022 National Library of Australia Fellow Dr Kate Warren

Kate’s research focused on the role of popular magazines in Australian art history and arts communication in the 1950s and 1960s.


 

Blog
Research program
The Birds of Australia Gould - Printed plate
Conserving John Gould’s Australian Bird Pattern Plates

Learn about the treatment work our conservators have recently done on thepattern plates for the supplement to The Birds of Australia by John Gould.

Blog
Lintel Sculpture above the National Library's main entrance doors

Loui Seselja, Bas relief over the entrance doors of the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2004, nla.obj-131049918

Artwork in the foyer, exterior and grounds

The National Library has a large collection of sculptures built into and around the building, and beautiful tapestries hanging in our foyer.

Information article
Three colourful tapestry panels depicting Australian landscapes hung in the main reading room

Alice Kettle (b.1961), Australian Landscapes I–IV 2000 ca.1998 ; 4 machine-embroidered tapestries, Main Reading Room

Artwork in the Main Reading Room

The Main Reading Room houses a collection of sculptures and paintings inspired by Indigenous stories of the Australian landscape.

Information article
A tapestry titled 'Finding Kenneth Myer'

John Young, John Dicks, Milena Paplinska, Cheryl Thornton (weavers), Finding Kenneth Myer 2011, wool and cotton; 230 x 302cm, Special Collections Reading Room

Artwork in the Special Collections Reading Room

The Special Collections Reading Room houses art relating to Australian history and culture in the post-colonial era, focusing on modern Australian people and places.

Information article
Cover of the book 'Ellis Rowan: A Life in Pictures'
Ellis Rowan: A Life in Pictures

Christine Morton-Evans

Book
NLA Publishing book

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