Schaeffer Fine Art Library

The Power Institute hosts one of Australia's leading visual art libraries. It holds a unique and extension collection of texts, films, rare books and archives, and hosts an artist residency and exhibitions.
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library is one of the leading art libraries in Australia. Housed at the University of Sydney and supported by the Power Institute, this specialist reference-only library is open on weekdays to students and the public.
Events
Upcoming
![Geometric instruments still life, ogee panel, c. 1939 [oil on board, PW1961.119.1, Chau Chak Wing Museum]](/sites/default/files/2025-09/20250902_091310.png)
JW Power: Artist, Benefactor, and Legacy
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library is honoured to present an exhibition "J.W. Power: Art, war and the avant-garde", curated in collaboration with the Chau Chak Wing Museum and Fisher Library, celebrating the life and legacy of JW Power.

Curating New Perspectives
A new suite of student-led exhibitions
Past

An exhibition of treasures from the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library collection, curated by Roger Benjamin. On view from March to April 2024.
People

Roger Benjamin
Roger Benjamin (Professor of Art History, U of Sydney) has written and lectured on Matisse throughout his career, beginning with his Bryn Mawr PhD (Matisse’s ‘Notes of a Painter’: Criticism, Theory and Context, Ann Arbor 1987). He co-curated QAG’s touring retrospective Matisse of 1995 before turning to questions of European Orientalism. His most recent publication on the Frenchman was “Matisse at the Senya el Hashti” in The Art Bulletin for 2019.

An exhibition of books by Stolon Press
A showing of works by the Sydney-based publisher founded by artist Simryn Gill and writer Tom Melick.

Archive Stories
A conversation with scholars Yvonne Low and Mary Roberts, and artist Simryn Gill, about the poetics and ethics of research.
People

Simryn Gill
Simryn Gill is an artist whose work spans photography, drawing, printing, object making and writing. Gill articulates the poetics of history, power and identity that striate the places and environments between which she lives and moves. With Tom Melick she runs Stolon Press, a small publisher of books and pamphlets in Sydney. In 2023 Gill's work was shown at MCA, Sydney; Barbican, London; Singapore Art Museum; Linnaen Society, London. Gill has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including the Singapore Biennale (2006), documenta (2007, 2012), Istanbul Biennial (2011, 2022), Venice Biennale (2013) and Dhaka Art Summit (2018), Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2024).

Yvonne Low
Yvonne Low is an art historian in Asian Art. She is a lecturer at the University of Sydney, teaching Art History and Curating in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs. She researches on modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art, with an interest in Chinese diasporic cultures, women’s history, and digital methods. As editorial committee to Southeast of Now Journal (NUS Press), Yvonne is committed to advancing scholarship in the region. She is currently an advisory committee member for The Flow of History (AWARE/Asia Art Archive), The Womanifesto Way Digital Anthology (Power Institute, DFAT, 4A) and co-developer of digital tool, Artists Trajectories Map.

Mary Roberts
Mary Roberts is Professor of Art History and Nineteenth-Century Studies at the University of Sydney. Her scholarship focuses on European Orientalist and modern Ottoman art, with particular interest in artistic exchanges, histories of collecting, and the various ways in which Orientalist images are mediated in paintings, travelogues, interiors, and news media. Her work lies at the intersection of modernism and Orientalism, and traces global networks that inform nineteenth-century European and Islamic art. Her books include: Istanbul Exchanges. Ottomans, Orientalists and Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture (University of California Press, 2015), awarded AAANZ’s Best Book Prize, Intimate Outsiders: The Harem in Ottoman and Orientalist Art and Travel Literature (Duke University Press, 2007) and four co-edited books: The Poetics and Politics of Place (Pera Museum, 2011) Edges of Empire (Blackwells, 2005), Orientalism’s Interlocutors (Duke, 2002) and Refracting Vision: Essays on the Writings of Michael Fried (Power Publications, 2000). In 2023, she coedited a major translation project: Victor Marie De Launay et al., Ottoman Architecture: A Study Published for the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair (Gorgias, 2023). Her next book, Four Thresholds: Orientalist Interiors, Islamic Art, the Aesthetics of Global Modernities, is under contract with University of Chicago Press.

Painting from Stone Country to the Desert (1965-2012)
An exhibition of twelve stunning paintings by First Nations artists.

Simryn Gill: Paper Jam / Insider Trading
An exhibition of new work by Schaeffer Library Artist in Residence Simryn Gill
People

Simryn Gill
Simryn Gill is an artist whose work spans photography, drawing, printing, object making and writing. Gill articulates the poetics of history, power and identity that striate the places and environments between which she lives and moves. With Tom Melick she runs Stolon Press, a small publisher of books and pamphlets in Sydney. In 2023 Gill's work was shown at MCA, Sydney; Barbican, London; Singapore Art Museum; Linnaen Society, London. Gill has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including the Singapore Biennale (2006), documenta (2007, 2012), Istanbul Biennial (2011, 2022), Venice Biennale (2013) and Dhaka Art Summit (2018), Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2024).

Schaeffer Fine Arts Library: Celebrating 25 Years
A reception to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Schaeffer Library, one of Australia's most important fine arts collections.
News

Schaeffer Library Survey Results
Read the results of our most extensive ever survey of Schaeffer Library users.

Schaeffer Library imagines its future
The Power Institute’s Schaeffer Fine Art Library at the University of Sydney, which opened in 2000, is marking its 25th anniversary with a celebration of its past and a bold vision for what research on art and visual culture will look like in the future.

Academic Collaboration Spotlight
Academic collaboration underscores the Schaeffer Library’s growing role in facilitating innovative teaching and learning partnerships, and supporting creative, research-rich learning experiences across the University.

Schaeffer Fine Arts Library item featuring in Venice Architecture Biennale
Schaeffer Fine Arts Library item featuring in Venice Architecture Biennale

Must Reads
A curated selection of titles recommended by esteemed academics and leading experts in their fields. This collection highlights influential works that have shaped thinking, inspired research, and sparked meaningful conversations across disciplines.

Celebrating 25 Years of the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
On Thursday, 22 May 2025, the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library proudly celebrated a major milestone — 25 years of inspiring scholarship, creativity, and cultural memory.

Apply now for Schaeffer Library internship (GLAM)
The Schaeffer Library is offering an exciting internship opportunity for students interested in the intersection of museum studies, art history and library science.

Schaeffer Fine Arts Library Internship Program 2025
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library hosted three student interns through the GLAM & FASS3000 Internship Program, offering hands-on experience in metadata enrichment and archival cataloguing. Working with the Noel Gray Artist Book Collection and the Sherman Galleries Ephemera Collection, the interns helped enhance access to and preservation of rare and overlooked materials.

Australian Small Art Press Collection
This initiative will establish a unique home for Australian small press art publications—offering public access to a rich and diverse range of voices shaping contemporary visual culture. The collection will include past and present titles published by Power Publications, alongside works from emerging and established small publishers across the country.

Curating New Perspectives: Student-Led Exhibitions at Schaeffer Library
A new suite of exhibitions by University of Sydney postgraduate students.

JW Power: Artist, Benefactor and Legacy
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library is honoured to present an exhibition "J.W. Power: Art, war and the avant-garde", curated in collaboration with the Chau Chak Wing Museum and Fisher Library, celebrating the life and legacy of JW Power.

New Arrivals @ Schaeffer Library
A roundup of the newest additions to the Schaeffer Library's collections.