Close to home
Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial 2016
30 Jul – 11 Dec 2016
This exhibition features six contemporary Australian artists for whom drawing is a central part of their practice and whose work engages with narrative, memory and experience.
10th anniversary Bookplate Design Award
Tue–Sat only 26 Oct – 26 Nov 2016
Research library and archiveA display of bookplates made by students of art and design at Australian tertiary institutions for the 10th anniversary of an award established by the New Australian Bookplate Society.
Yoshitoshi
One hundred aspects of the moon
20 Aug – 20 Nov 2016
This masterpiece of Japanese printmaking, consisting of 100 individual prints, showcases the skill and imagination that have secured Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s place in art history.
Art of parts
collage and assemblage from the collection
17 Sep – 13 Nov 2016
With works by Robert Klippel, James Gleeson and Rosalie Gascoigne among others, this exhibition presents some of the key pioneers of collage and assemblage in Australia as well as more recent practitioners.
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship 2016
23 Sep – 13 Nov 2016
Brett Whiteley Studio, Surry HillsA small selection of works from this year’s scholarship winner and finalists.
In mono-prints, drawings and paintings, Brett Whiteley paid tribute to Francis Bacon, Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, Bob Dylan and Arthur Rimbaud as subject and inspiration.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection
25 Jun – 23 Oct 2016
Masterpieces by the two leading figures of Mexican 20th-century art, drawn from the renowned collection of Jacques and Natasha Gelman.
Housing a collection
the Gallery and the Garden Palace
Tue–Sat only 30 Aug – 14 Oct 2016
Research library and archiveDiscover the Gallery’s historic connections with the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 and the Garden Palace.
Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2016
16 Jul – 9 Oct 2016
The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes is an annual exhibition eagerly anticipated by artists and audiences alike.
Tracey Moffatt
Laudanum and other works
25 May – 4 Sep 2016
Tracey Moffatt is one of Australia’s most influential artists and the Gallery has a substantial collection of her work, including the photographic series Laudanum and Plantation and the montage videos Love and Other.
Seven artists from the John Kaldor Family Collection
30 May 2015 – 4 Sep 2016
From figurative painting to video installation and architectural invention, this exhibition showcases a diverse range of media and presents a cross-section of contemporary approaches to artmaking.
Landscapes of pleasure
from Monet to Hockney
30 Apr – 17 Jul 2016
From western France as seen by Claude Monet through to David Hockney’s Yorkshire, these paintings from the Gallery’s collection offer a journey through what critic Robert Hughes called ‘the landscape of pleasure’.
Tang 唐
treasures from the Silk Road capital
9 Apr – 10 Jul 2016
Discover the golden age of China with treasures of gold, silver and glass, as well as ceramics, sculptures and mural paintings from the Tang Empire.
20th Biennale of Sydney
The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed
18 Mar – 5 Jun 2016
The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s much-anticipated major contemporary art event. This latest edition focuses on how the common distinction between the virtual and the physical has become ever more elusive.
Colourwheel
30 May 2015 – 29 May 2016
Celebrates the playful and dynamic ways in which modern artists have used colour, from Roy de Maistre’s pioneering colour wheels to the vibrant sculptural 'Splotches’ of Sol LeWitt.
Imprint
photography and the impressionable image
6 Feb – 18 May 2016
Drawn from the Gallery’s collection, the photographs in this exhibition feature representational forms that have been produced by the direct contact between subject and material – whether fabric, plaster or wax.
ARTEXPRESS 2016
16 Mar – 15 May 2016
A dynamic and popular exhibition featuring a selection of outstanding student artworks developed for the artmaking component of the HSC examination in Visual Arts 2015.
Brett Whiteley
other places (somewhere else)
11 Dec 2015 – 8 May 2016
(See exhibition page for exact dates)
Brett Whiteley travelled extensively throughout his life, setting down his experiences in charcoal, photographs and paint – a visual diary of Paris, New York, Tokyo and Tangier.
When silence falls
19 Dec 2015 – 1 May 2016
Works from artists across the globe who give voice to those silenced by often unacknowledged events, such as massacres, ethnic cleansing, cultural displacement and political force.
Modernists
highlights from the European collection
7 Nov 2015 – 25 Apr 2016
Places major European paintings from the Gallery’s collection in dialogue with a changing selection of artworks from our rich holdings of modern prints, drawings and photographs.
Conversations
through the Asian collections
25 Oct 2014 – 13 Mar 2016
This exhibition, now in its second stage, continues to bring old and new together in a series of dynamic conversations.
Murruwaygu
following in the footsteps of our ancestors
28 Nov 2015 – 21 Feb 2016
Celebrates the Aboriginal culture of south-east Australia by exploring one particular strand of Koori art practice – the use of line by male artists.
The Greats
masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland
24 Oct 2015 – 14 Feb 2016
Experience the grandeur of masterpieces by some of the greatest names in European art including Botticelli, Leonardo, Cézanne, El Greco, Gauguin and Monet.
Body parts
26 Sep 2015 – 31 Jan 2016
A selection of works by Australian and international artists that focus on photography’s ability to communicate the extent of the body both physically and metaphorically.
James Gleeson centenary
works from the collection
7 Nov 2015 – 17 Jan 2016
Celebrates the remarkable legacy of James Gleeson (1915–2008), who is renowned as Australia’s foremost surrealist painter and poet.