2009 past exhibitions

Heritage Collection 2009

Open:

1 January 2009 – 13 November 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.

Vaniman Panorama

Open:

20 June 2009 – 8 November 2009

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

World Press Photo 09

Open:

9 May 2009 – 31 May 2009

Venue:

Galleries, Mitchell wing

This annual exhibition features the award-winning photographs from the prestigious World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Showcasing approximately 200 photographs in ten theme categories including: news, nature, portraits, arts and entertainment, sports, and daily life, this is the Library’s most popular guest exhibition.

World Press Photo is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT. The exhibition has been brought to Sydney by Canon Australia and supported by Getty Images, JC Decaux and TNT.

Image: World Press Photo of the Year 2008
Anthony Suau, USA, for Time
US Economy in Crisis: Following eviction, Detective Robert Kole must ensure residents have moved out of their home, Cleveland, Ohio, 26 March

Moran Prizes 2009

Open:

7 March 2009 – 3 May 2009

Venue:

Galleries, Mitchell Wing

The Moran Prizes are a major event on the Australian arts calendar and are comprised of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize.

The Moran Health Care Group, the Moran Family and the Moran Arts Foundation are the benefactors of the annual Moran Prizes, which offer collective prize monies of up to $300,000.

The State Library of NSW presents 121 photographic and 30 portrait finalists from a total of over 130 000 entries.

For further information please visit the official Moran Prizes website.

Image: Jacqueline Berthaume, Boy
Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize finalist

  Sponsored by the Moran Health Care Group

The Magic Pudding: Watercolours by Norman Lindsay

Open:

15 December 2008 – 29 March 2009

Venue:

The Picture Gallery

The much-loved characters of Norman Lindsay’s classic The Magic Pudding star in this exhibition featuring his 1959 watercolour paintings. These works inspired the Marionette Theatre Company’s Tintookie puppets, which bring Lindsay’s characters to life.

Image: Albert, 1959, Norman Lindsay

Bondi Jitterbug: George Caddy and his Camera

Open:

29 November 2008 – 22 February 2009

Venue:

Galleries, Mitchell Wing

The work of amateur photographer, champion jitterbug dancer and Bondi local George Caddy is displayed for the first time in this exhibition of 60 photographs. These distinctive photographs document Bondi Beach during the late 1930s and early 1940s and feature parading lifesavers, leisure seekers wearing the latest beach fashions and the astonishing gymnastic feats known as ‘beachobatics’.

Image: George Caddy, 5 Jan 1941