Art and Design

Discover stories about the unique work of Australian artists, architects and designers.

Art and Design

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Architecture

The flat roofs of Sydney

by Davina Jackson

A design feature used by big-name modernist architects appeared first in a handful of houses on Sydney’s lower North Shore.

A coloured photograph of a flat roofed house.

The Bridge: the arch that cut the sky

The journey to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge would take almost 100 years. In this 5-part series, travel through history to experience the story of realising a city’s dream. 

The Bridge website

Architecture: arrival of modernism

Architectural modernism was a revolutionary rejection of past styles and the use of architectural ornament.

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Architect of the screen: Eric Thompson as architect, artist and filmmaker

by Erica Aronsten

Eric Thompson’s career as an architect, artist and filmmaker highlights the close connection between architecture and design in the development of the film industry.

Several men in white coats sketching a young woman modelling

Harry Seidler collection

Designs and photographs from Australia's best known modernist architect.

Decoration and Glass magazine

by Sarah Morley

Decoration and Glass, a magazine for home builders, architects and decorators has been digitised in colour as part of the Library’s Digital Excellence Program. 

Decoration and Glass, Published by Australian Glass Manufacturers Co. Ltd, Dowling Street waterloo, NSW, Australia, 1 July, 1936

Francis Greenway: convict architect

Francis Greenway (1777- 1837) produced some of the finest colonial buildings in Australia.

The Garden Palace

Sydney’s Garden Palace was a magnificent building with a grandeur that dominated the skyline and captivated society from its opening in 1879. Three years later it was destroyed in a devastating fire.

Drawings and paintings

A changing world

by Catherine Keenan

Children’s picture books reflect the world that makes them, but must try to remake that world too.

Art & life: Cressida Campbell

by Elizabeth Fortescue

As she finalises work for her landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Sydney artist Cressida Campbell invites Openbook into her studio.

Portrait of Cressida Campbell in 2022. Photo by Joy Lai

Grand vistas

by Richard Neville

Sixteen panoramas will displayed in the inaugural exhibition of the Library’s new Drawings, Watercolours and Prints Gallery.

Jacob Janssen Singapore from on board the sunken ship Pasco, December 28, 1837, watercolour (detail)

Drawing a fine line

by Margot Riley

A curator encounters a trailblazing illustrator whose work shone in newspapers.

Daring and devotion

by Barnaby Smith

The art of Sydney couple George and Charis Schwarz defies neat categories, but their body of work will be preserved.

From The Song Oblivion, 1972, by George and Charis Schwarz

War diaries of George Gittoes

by Louise Denoon

A selection of  visual diaries of Australian artist George Gittoes, covering the period between 2001 and 2014, have been recently digitised by the Library.

Detail from Image 8, Item 24: George Gittoes art diary, ca. April 2009-ca. December 2009

Kathleen’s voyage: A love story

by Margot Riley

These beautifully illustrated logbooks record a detailed account of the circumnavigation of the world by the deep-sea cruising yacht Kathleen Gillett.

Detail: [The Kathleen Gillet in full sail], oil on card, Kathleen's voyage number 2, Thursday Island to Christmas Island, July-August 1947

What about the sheilas?

by Elizabeth Fortescue

Peter Kingston couldn’t please everyone in his artist’s book Sheilas, but the result is a special piece of work.

Graphic design

A capital idea

by Maggie Patton

Decorated initials — artworks in themselves — have a long history.

The life & death of Smith's Weekly

by Robert Phiddian

The death of a newspaper plays out in a box of cartoons.

Tall man leaning against a 'shack' building. Man inside building leans out the window with a shaving razor in his hand, looking cross towards him.

The printer’s mark

by Maggie Patton

That curious penguin on the spine of your favourite paperback isn’t there just for decoration.

Ashendene Press, 1922

The graphic design of Donald Fish

by Andrea Black

Boxes filled with artwork, illustrations, posters, photographs and advertisements mark an acclaimed designer's life.

‘Myrtle’, the little girl with her hand in the Peek Frean’s biscuit box

The slippery symbols of Australia

by Richard White

As a nation’s sense of itself and its place in the world shifts, so do the symbols it uses to tell its story.

Jantzen women's swimsuits for 1967 modelled at Chinamans Beach alongside the latest-model Holden Torana

A nice little business: NSW’s circulating libraries

by Jane Gibian

Part of daily life in the mid twentieth century, circulating libraries have left charming traces.

Love is all: Myles Dunphy and romance

by Anna Corkhill

The well-known conservationist Myles Dunphy’s romantic side is beautifully illustrated in a new acquisition.

A spread of various crafts and booklets by Myles Dunphy.

We tell the world: signwriting, decorating and Althouse & Geiger

by Michael Bogle

The Library’s collection offers glimpses into Sydney signwriting and decorating firm Althouse & Geiger that once boasted, 'We tell the world everything it wants to know'.

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