Australian Library of Art

The arts and design collections of SLQ contain a broad selection of materials relating to the world history of art from pre-history to the present day. The collection strength of 19th and 20th century Western art resources is complemented by the contemporary resources of the Asia Pacific Design Library and the specialist collections about Australian art and bookarts that comprise the Australian Library of Art: the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Art, The Lindsay Collection of Pat Corrigan, The History and Art of the Book Collection and the Artists’ Book Collection.

Subjects collected include:

Painting, sculpture and design
All schools, major artists, styles and periods from the ancient world to the 21st century are covered. Related fields such as drawing, illustration, graphic and decorative arts, commercial art, cartooning, fashion and textile arts are also collected.

Architecture
Architectural history from ancient times to the contemporary world is the basis of this collection. The related fields of urban design and planning, landscape architecture, interior design and decoration are also collected.

Photography
Works about major photographers, published collections of photographs and the history of photography to the present day are included. While historical collections cover technical aspects of photography, contemporary material has an artistic focus.

Antiques and collectables
The emphasis for this subject is on identification, collection and valuation of antiques and collectables. Related fields of ceramics and pottery, textile arts, art metalwork, numismatics and furniture history and design are also collected.