Acclaimed artist Matt Aberline gave an engaging talk on The Guardians, his latest large-scale installation at the National Library of Australia.

About 350 titles and a total of about 3000 issues of comics published between 1940 and 1960. Most are Australian publications, although many are reprints of US or British publications.

Oral history interviews with prominent Australian women.

About 5,000 books, pamphlets and periodicals, over 11,000 paintings, drawings and prints, around 800 maps and over 300 manuscripts mostly published 1770–1900. Largely relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific including Antarctica.

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

About 350 photographs, including glass negatives, and a small number of pencil sketches, majority depicting paddle steamers sailing or moored on the Murray or Darling rivers.

Ten signed stencil prints by Pablo Picasso. 54 sketchbooks of John Power, a small group of personal papers of Power, and 262 books relating to art and architecture.

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.

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

Learn about 2025 National Library of Australia Scholar Caitlin Hughes’ research into interdisciplinary art in Indonesia. 

More than 1,000 comics, mostly published in Australia and including some overseas titles reprinted in Australia, from the 1940s to 1970s, as well as fanzines and personal papers.

These holidays, we celebrated art, culture, and storytelling with Ngunawal artists Jazz and Kristal Matthews from Wilay Designs. During the session, participants explored the Wangka Wakanutja exhibition to be inspired by the Papunya Community’s remarkable publishing and artistic output.