The Australian collection provides a comprehensive overview of Australian art in all media from early colonial times to the present. There is also a separate selection under Aboriginal Art. The old courts on the ground floor display a strong representation of some of the most loved Australian painters and sculptors of the 19th century, including national icons such as Roberts, McCubbin and Streeton, while on the other side of the entrance court in the Captain Cook wing, you can find an impressive collection of key works of Australian modernism. The Aboriginal collection can be found on the third level in the Yiribana gallery as well as having a presence in the twentieth century Australian wing. This display reflects the long history of traditional art across the continent, and contemporary practice and innovation in all media.

The Asian collection is displayed on the ground floor in the spectacular, new Asian Gallery built in 2003 and in a more traditional gallery directly below it and accessible by a stairway that provides a beautiful view of a grand fig tree much admired by our many Asian visitors. The main strengths of the collection lie in Chinese and Japanese art from ancient times to the present. It also traces the spread of Buddhism from India across central Asia to China and Japan and into Southeast Asia. This department is divided by geographical origin and you may browse within these areas by clicking on the appropriate image - for example East Asia or Southeast Asia.

For more information on Asian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, visit www.asianart.com.au >

The Western collection begins in the old courts. Thanks largely to the generosity of James Fairfax we are able to present a small but impressive collection of European art from the 16th century in Italy and the Netherlands through to the 19th century, where there is a very strong holding of British Victorian painting and sculpture collected from the earliest days of the foundation of the Gallery. On level 2 we display an excellent collection of modern British masters and a small but excellent collection of European modernists. Contemporary art, including Australian art, also hangs on this level and is considered part of the Western collection. There is a very strong holding of international and Australian art after 1965, only a fragment of which can be displayed at any time. The Photography collection and Twentieth century works on paper are also shown in smaller galleries on this floor. Western art can be browsed according to chronology, for example European art before 1900, Modern, Contemporary; there is also a Photography option.