Joseph Lycett Newcastle NSW looking towards Prospect Hill ((circa 1818)) 43.2 x 67.3 oil on canvas Purchased 1991 with the assistance of the Port Waratah Coal Services
Grace Cossington Smith Way to the studio (1957) 91.5 x 60.3 oil on hardboard Gift of the Art Gallery and Conservatorium Committee 1967
Australian Painting
The Newcastle Region Art Gallery contains one of the few collections in regional Australia where it is possible to chart the complex history of art in Australia with works of stellar quality. Paintings dominate the key holdings since, from the time Europeans arrived in Australia, painting has been the ascendant form of expression in the visual arts. Before this, Indigenous Australians painted on bark and stone but the new arrivals did not take particular interest, since their vision of art was attuned to Europe.