Exhibitions
Vaniman Panorama
- Open:
- 20 June 2009 – 31 January 2010
- Venue:
- Mitchell Galleries
American adventurer Melvin Vaniman (1866 – 1912) arrived in Sydney in February 1903 and spent a year, on and off, photographing the city and harbour. His distinctive panoramas were nearly always taken from high above the ground and if a nearby building or ship’s mast was not at hand he erected his own thirty-metre pole to achieve a bird’s-eye view.
Vaniman Panorama features enlargements of twelve of the sixty to seventy panoramas produced by Vaniman during his time in Australia.
Image: Manly Water Chute and Toboggan, 1903 (detail) DLPg31
Charles Darwin Down Under, 1836
- Open:
- 4 April 2009 – 26 July 2009
- Venue:
- Picture Gallery
Follow Charles Darwin’s footsteps through original paintings, manuscripts and books documenting his 1836 visit on the HMS Beagle to Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Bathurst, Hobart and Albany. 2009 marks the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.
Image: Duck-billed platypus. Hand coloured engraving from John Gould, The mammals of Australia, part VII, London:1855
Heritage Collection 2009
- Open:
- 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2009
- Venue:
- Galleries, Mitchell Wing
Explore the continuously evolving Heritage Collection, presented by the Nelson Meers Foundation. This year’s displays include more rare and significant items from the collections of the State Library of New South Wales.




