What We Collect

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Pictures

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Under the terms of the National Library Act 1960 one function of the Library is to maintain and develop a national collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people, and to make this material available to persons and institutions.

‘Library material’ is defined as including pictorial material, because pictures – that is – paintings, drawings, prints and photographs – are an integral part of the records of history, technology, human affairs, natural history and indeed almost every aspect of daily life.

Even in the early days of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, out of which the National Library evolved, the importance of collecting in this field was recognised. A number of items in the collection were acquired for the Commonwealth in the early 1900s.

Art works and photographs are acquired primarily for their informational value, and for their importance as historical documents.

The collection is mainly Australian in content and the original art works are predominantly dated in the nineteenth century. Paintings, drawings and prints dated later than 1890 are collected very selectively because by this time photography was well established and for the twentieth century, photographs are usually preferred. There are certain exceptions to this rule: for example, the Library purchased a watercolour by Penleigh Boyd of the Canberra site in 1913, which has outstanding historical importance. Portraits of eminent Australians, painted this century, are often acquired if no comparable photographs are available, and particularly if they relate to other collections held in the Library such as the Manuscript Collection. It is recognised that a painting, drawing or print may be more revealing and historically important than a photograph of the same subject.

Works of art and photographs are acquired by purchase and gift. Works are bought at auctions, and from commercial galleries and private owners, both in Australia and overseas. Gifts may be received under the Cultural Gifts Program or as bequests.

In acquiring material, whether by purchase or gift, the Library consults and co-operates with the National Gallery of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, the Australian War Memorial, ScreenSound, the National Museum of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum to ensure that the collecting aims of all seven national institutions are appropriately recognised.

Selected works from the Library’s collections are always on exhibition in various public areas of the Library and in the Picture Reading Room. You can also explore the Pictures Collection online through articles and essays.

The Library has a continuing exhibition program, and many of its exhibitions are designed as travelling exhibitions, with venues in other states. Art works and photographs from the Pictures Collection are regularly lent for exhibition to art museums, libraries and other institutions. The National Library's Exhibitions Branch (tel. 02 6262 1444 or 02 6262 1148) co-ordinates requests for exhibition loans and provides information on conditions of Loan. To allow time for preservation treatment of items requested for loan, as well as for cataloguing, valuation and photography, and for the assessment of information on the environmental and security conditions of the exhibition venue, twelve months notice is required for exhibition loan requests.

All of the original works are catalogued on the National Bibliographic Database and are available through the Library’s catalogue. New acquisitions are catalogued as they arrive. The Library’s pictorial collection is gradually being digitised and there are presently over 74,000 images available through the Pictures Catalogue and PictureAustralia service on the Internet. As a supplement to the Pictures Catalogue, selected collections are listed or summarised in caption lists and finding aids.