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.
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.
Archives, Voices, Presence: Three Exhibitions, Many Perspectives
The Schaeffer Library is offering an exciting internship opportunity for students interested in the intersection of museum studies, art history and library science. This internship focuses on capturing metadata for early works of artists, including books, diaries, notes, sketches, and other ephemera from our extensive archival collection. Interns will gain hands-on experience in cataloguing and metadata entry, enhancing their skills and knowledge in twentieth and twenty-first-century art history.
Josef Albers: Interaction of Colour Exhibition Extension
Josef Albers 'Interaction of Colour’ exhibition extension
Visit an extension to the Migrating Modernism exhibition from August - September 2026 at the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library. Curated by Ann Stephen, view a large selection of prints by Josef Albers.
Student Zine Exhibition
An exhibition of student-produced zines responding to the 2026 Biennale of Sydney is now on view at the Schaeffer Fine Art Library.
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.
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.
Exploring Archives: Student-Curated Exhibitions at Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
The 2026 Schaeffer Library interns present a student-led exhibition drawn from the Sherman Galleries Archive. Exploring 32 artist folders, the exhibition highlights how archival materials—letters, press, photographs and project files—shape artistic identity, public reception and the lasting legacy of contemporary art.
Exhibition on Pan-Nationalism: The Studio, Jugend, and Art Nouveau curated by Callum Gallagher
Curated from the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library’s Rare collection of The Studio alongside selections from the German journal Jugend, the exhibition examines how Art Nouveau challenged artistic traditions through decoration, organic forms, and the blending of cultural influences.
Events
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 is Emeritus Professor Art History at the University of Sydney. He has written widely on French Orientalist art, Henri Matisse, and Australian art. This new work is an offshoot of his 2023 book Growing up Modern: Canberra’s Round House and Alex Jelinek (Halstead Press).
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 a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney. She specializes in Asian modernities, gender and sexuality in Asian art, and curatorial practice, teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Her research recovers marginalized histories in Southeast Asian art and Chinese diaspora cultures, with particular focus on women's practices and artist’s networks. She employs decolonial, feminist, and digital methodologies to challenge canonical art histories and develop new frameworks for studying artists excluded from dominant modernist narratives – including watercolourists, left-aligned practitioners, and those working across amateur-professional boundaries from the colonial period to the present. Since co-convening the inaugural 2017 international symposium on Gender in Southeast Asian Art Histories, she has actively built this interdisciplinary field through multiple channels. She has co-organised three exhibitions on women's art and archives, and serve on the editorial committee of Southeast of Now Journal and advisory boards for major regional initiatives including “The Flow of History: Southeast Asian Women Artists” (AWARE/AAA) and “The Womanifesto Way” (Power Institute, DFAT). Current collaborative projects include a special issue on Feminist Writings in Southeast Asian Art and the Artists Trajectories Map (ArTM), a digital tool advancing comparative research methodologies.
Mary Roberts
Mary Roberts is Professor of Art History and Nineteenth-Century Studies at the University of Sydney. Working at the intersection of modernism and orientalism, she traces the global networks that inform European and Islamic art. Her next book, Four Thresholds: Modernity, Islamic Art, and the Orientalist Interior, is forthcoming with the University of Chicago Press in April 2027.
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.
![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
Picture Books!
Family activities at the Schaeffer Library: a pop-up book store, and a kids art workshop by Claudia Nicholson!
People
Claudia Nicholson
Claudia Nicholson is an artist and educator who works with painting, photography, installation and video. Recent projects include ‘Oh’ a new animated artwork made in collaboration with writer Enoch Mailangi and children from the Sydney Children’s Hospital School. ‘Oh’ is a story about the power of friendship told through unfolding conversations between animals. In 2020 she created ‘Art Trail’, an illustrated children's activity guide for the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Australia. Claudia’s video artwork ‘By Your Side’ 2019 is currently on exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. 'By Your Side' was co-created by artist Claudia Nicholson and six young people whose families were seeking asylum in Australia at the time.
Exhibition on Pan-Nationalism: The Studio, Jugend, and Art Nouveau curated by Callum Gallagher
Curated exhibition from the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library’s Rare collection of The Studio alongside selections from the German journal Jugend, the exhibition examines how Art Nouveau challenged artistic traditions through decoration, organic forms, and the blending of cultural influences.
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 and FASS3000 Unit)
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. The Schaeffer Library is delighted to showcase highlights from recent curatorial projects led by postgraduate students in collaboration with Dr. Yvonne Low for the ARHT6937: Exhibiting and Collecting Asian Art unit, part of the Master of Art Curating program at the University of Sydney. This practice-led initiative has resulted in four outstanding exhibition proposals selected for the Schaeffer Library Exhibition Series, giving students the opportunity to transform their research into dynamic, audience-facing displays.
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.
Exploring Archives: Student-Curated Exhibitions at Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
The 2026 Schaeffer Library interns present a student-led exhibition drawn from the Sherman Galleries Archive. Exploring 32 artist folders, the exhibition highlights how archival materials—letters, press, photographs and project files—shape artistic identity, public reception and the lasting legacy of contemporary art.
Exhibition on Pan-Nationalism: The Studio, Jugend, and Art Nouveau curated by Callum Gallagher
Curated from the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library’s Rare collection of The Studio alongside selections from the German journal Jugend, the exhibition examines how Art Nouveau challenged artistic traditions through decoration, organic forms, and the blending of cultural influences.
Archives, Voices, Presence: Three Exhibitions, Many Perspectives
The Schaeffer Library is offering an exciting internship opportunity for students interested in the intersection of museum studies, art history and library science. This internship focuses on capturing metadata for early works of artists, including books, diaries, notes, sketches, and other ephemera from our extensive archival collection. Interns will gain hands-on experience in cataloguing and metadata entry, enhancing their skills and knowledge in twentieth and twenty-first-century art history.
Josef Albers: Interaction of Colour Exhibition Extension
Josef Albers 'Interaction of Colour’ exhibition extension
Visit an extension to the Migrating Modernism exhibition from August - September 2026 at the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library. Curated by Ann Stephen, view a large selection of prints by Josef Albers.
Discover an extension to the Migrating Modernism exhibition at the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library from August to September 2026. Curated by Ann Stephen, this special display features a significant selection of prints by pioneering modernist artist and educator Josef Albers, celebrating his influential exploration of colour, perception, and visual experience.
Best known for his groundbreaking publication Interaction of Color (1963), Albers transformed the way artists and designers understand colour, demonstrating that colours are perceived differently depending on their surrounding context. Through a series of striking prints and visual studies, the exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience firsthand the dynamic relationships between colours and the enduring impact of Albers' teaching on modern art and design.
All are welcome to visit this exhibition during library opening hours 9.00 am to 7.00 pm.
Location: RC Mills, A26. Level 3 (central vitrines and display cabinets)
Student Zine Exhibition
An exhibition of student-produced zines responding to the 2026 Biennale of Sydney is now on view at the Schaeffer Fine Art Library.