Due to major building activity, some collections are unavailable. Please check your requests before visiting. Learn more.
Strutt's Australia

William Strutt was the first great exponent of history painting to work in Australia. His spectacular work depicting the brutal and beautiful Australian landscape, explorers and bushrangers is iconic, and informs the way we envisage colonial life in the mid-nineteenth century. Heroes and Villains brings together Strutt’s oils, watercolours, sketches and prints from the extensive collections at the National Library with dramatic works from several major Australian collections.
Join the conversation #williamstrutt on
Image: William Strutt (1825–1915), Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia 1852 (detail) 1887, oil on canvas, The University of Melbourne Art Collection, 1973.0038.000.000. Gift of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Bequest 1973
Exhibition highlights
In partnership with State Library Victoria.