![000628dPainting of Augusta 1830 by Thomas Turner](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_hero_desktop/public/2021-06/000628d_Painting%20of%20Augusta%201830%20by%20Thomas%20Turner.jpg?h=6ae6bd56&itok=dJzY-2m9)
The State Library’s Art Collection documents the history of Western Australia through visual representation and artistic responses to events, places and periods in time, and includes some of the earliest illustrations of colonial life in the State.
The collection explores the stories and culture of the State’s diverse community, supporting and highlighting material held in other collections. The art collection which includes drawings, paintings and prints, is continually evolving. Material in the collection is both physical and digital and has been created in a variety of mediums.
The State Library holds around 1000 individual artworks.
Artwork collections and highlights
![Fence lineHouse in field Watercolour by Fred Flood](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_companion/public/2022-11/Fence%20line_House%20in%20field%20%28slwa_pic_b3036775_034%29.jpg?h=ccc1fdc3&itok=3aUhIiTR)
![Illustration from Tales from outer suburbia by Shaun Tan](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_companion/public/2021-09/PWC-112_Illustration%20from%20Tales%20from%20outer%20suburbia%20by%20Shaun%20Tan.jpg?h=dce1fb60&itok=eSSOwUZC)
![Robert Juniper painting 1977](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_companion/public/2023-10/slwa_b2435548_7.jpg?h=c28403de&itok=cotUeNsg)