Information
Founded in 1871 on a significant collection of British Victorian art, the international collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales has since expanded to include significant holdings of historical European art to contemporary art from across the globe. The Gallery’s collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings, while modest in size, comprises remarkable examples thanks a transformative series of gifts by the late James Fairfax AC in the 1990s and Kenneth Reed AM in recent years.
Our holdings include two Rubens paintings, Constantius appoints Constantine as his successor and The Presentation in the Temple, sixteenth-century Flemish portraits by Ambrosius Benson and the Master of the 1540s, notable landscapes by Paul Bril and Adam Pynacker, fine examples of still life paintings by Abraham van Beyeren and Laurens Craen as well as a delicate flower still life by Maria van Oosterwijck – the earliest painting by a woman artist in the Gallery’s European art collection. The collection of Flemish and Dutch prints includes works by Goltzius and Rembrandt as well as the complete set of etchings by Adriaen van Ostade.
Anne Gérard-Austin, Curator of International Art (March 2024)
Collection catalogues
Prints & drawings: Europe 1500–1900 (exh. cat.)
Peter Raissis
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney 2014
Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook
Bruce James, Edmond Capon
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney 1999
Art Gallery of New South Wales: handbook
Menzies, Jacqueline, Annabel Davie
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney 1988