Visual arts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Visual arts

Showing 1 - 12 of 43 results
Collection guide
Yetts Collection

715 Chinese and Japanese books. Most date from the period 1911-1940, but there are some much earlier works. The main subject areas are Chinese art, epigraphy, archaeology and early history of the Chinese script. Other subjects include classical writings, Buddhism and Taoism, myths and legends.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Wilson Collection

Drawings, sketches, plans and photographs of Australian colonial architecture, ancient buildings from China and Greece, furnature designs and sketches for a proposed "ideal city" of Kurrajong.

Collection guide
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
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
Cover of the book 'The Bird Art of William T. Cooper'
The Bird Art of William T. Cooper

Wendy Cooper

Book
NLA Publishing book
pencil drawing a young male artist leaning over a canvas painting an active scene

William Strutt, Atelier Drolling, Paris, 184-, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134769037

Strutt Collection

About 280 paintings and drawings by William Strutt dating from 1837-1900, produced in France, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and England, as well as 2 typescripts of stories by Strutt.

Collection guide
A large book sitting propped open on a red piece of material. The left hand page shows text that reads '1. Exhibit me' and the right hand page shows a stamped black ink image.

Wendy Muche, Meatshop [detail], 1984, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2866647. Photograph courtesy of Dr Caren Florance.

Strange pages: Investigating artists' books with Dr Caren Florance

Dr Caren Florance presented a lecture on her 2024 National Library Fellowship research into artists' books (books made by artists as art).

Event
Video
Collection guide
Ryan Collection

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.

Collection guide
Two colourful birds standing on branches eating fruit

Ellis Rowan, [Lorikeets (Geoffroyus heteroclitus)], 1917, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138740512

Rowan Collection

919 watercolours and gouaches of flowers and birds of Australia and Papua New Guinea painted 1870-1920, plus a small quantity of personal papers.

Collection guide
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
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
Collection guide
Power Collection

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.

Collection guide

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