Art Gallery institutional archive
Detail of Walter Vernon's design for National Art Gallery, Sydney, proposed completed building showing front elevation, 22 July 1896, National Art Archive, Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales was established as the first freestanding public art museum in Australia exclusively devoted to art.
Our institutional archive holds administrative records from the 1870s to the present day. These can be grouped in the following categories:
The Trust – includes minutes, reports, resolutions, etc
The Directorate – includes appointment records and director reports and papers
Correspondence – includes government, foreign, general and acquisition correspondence
Finance and administration – includes ledgers, cash books, insurance records, sale books, audit records, etc
Visitors – includes copy and visitor books
Exhibitions – includes exhibition files, installation photographs, proposals, etc
Prizes and scholarships – includes the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, travelling scholarships, etc
Acquisition, registration and deaccession – includes accession registers, location registers, journals, worksheets, wills and bequests, outward and inward loan registers, copyright, deaccession registers, etc
Conservation – includes reports, ledgers, etc
Photographs – archival photographs of the building, collection and staff
The building – includes architectural plans and drawings, etc
For a complete listing of each category, you’ll need to consult the three-volume guide in the library.