Paintings from the collection 2020

More than 300 original artworks from the State Library's unique collection of landscape and portrait paintings are on permanent public display.

The selected works range from the 1790s to today. The exhibition features portraits of the extraordinary and the everyday, rare and recent views of Sydney and the harbour, suburban streetscapes and burgeoning rural townscapes

Each of these paintings offers a glimpse into the artist's world - how they saw it, or how they were commissioned to portray it. They are a window into the past, but they also prompt us to ask what, and who is not visible.