The National Gallery of Australia has more than 100,000 works in its collection—an extraordinary reservoir of creative vision and cultural history, from decorative arts to photography and sculpture.
Yet on a visit to the gallery, you’ll see only the tip of this iceberg. Carefully stored away are the things that can’t be placed on permanent display.
These unseen gems include works of exquisite fragility, from brilliant hand-painted fabrics to delicate works on paper. From Australia, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania, there are masks and carvings, lithographs and linocuts, set designs and stage costumes, sketchpads and handprinted books, marionettes and maquettes, teapots and textiles, and much, much more.
Now in this series of micro-docs, former director of the gallery Betty Churcher presents an insider’s guide to some of these “hidden treasures”.
In the entertaining, accessible style for which she is renowned, Betty Churcher takes us behind the scenes, sharing with us her passion and insights. From her unique vantage point, she makes intriguing connections between a range of different objects and artists, linking them to the stories that surround them.
These are fascinating tales—about the works themselves, the people who created them and the challenge of preserving them—and a tantalising look at some of the ideas and influences that have shaped modern art across the globe.
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Early Works. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
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Simply click on the button of choice to download.
Episode 1:
[16.9 MB] 
[18.2 MB]
Costume: Giorgio de Chirico
© Giorgio de Chirico licensed by VISCOPY, Australia
Costume: Natalia Goncharova
© Natalia Goncharova licensed by ADAGP & VISCOPY, Australia
Costume: Henri Matisse
© Henri Matisse licensed by Succession Matisse & VISCOPY, Australia
Set design for the ballet Icare by Sidney Nolan
courtesy of Lady Nolan
Picasso at Madoura (1949)
Gjon Mili licensed by Time & Life Pictures & Getty Images
Diaghilev, Matisse, Massine (1920)
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Nijinsky: Le Dieu Bleu,
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
Episode 2:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Oceania, the sky & Jazz by Henri Matisse
© Henri Matisse licensed by Succession Matisse & VISCOPY, Australia
Matisse in Armida's garden (1946), Roccoco chair Matisse's apartment (1946), Matisse in Nice (1953)
Hélène Ardant (Aragon) licensed by Bibliothèque Kandinsky
Matisse (1946-7)
licensed by akg-images / Bianconero
Matisse in his studio,
Henri Cartier-Bresson © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos
Episode 3:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Woman Possessed Jacob Epstein
© The Estate of Sir Jacob Epstein
Images of Modern Evil 24 Albert Tucker
© Barbara Tucker, courtesy of Barbara Tucker
Max Ernst with his Kachina collection
© 2006 The Museum of Modern Art, N.Y/Scala, Florence
Max Ernst, Arnold Newman
licensed by Arnold Newman Collection/Getty Images
Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning (1946), John Kasnetsis
licensed by VISCOPY
Max Ernst (1946), Lee Miller
© Lee Miller Archives, England 2006 All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk
Boyds' Murrumbeena studio (c.1945),
Albert Tucker licensed by Heide Museum of Modern Art Collection Gift of Barbara Tucker 2001
Albert Tucker (c.1942) Albert Tucker
© Barbara Tucker courtesy of Barbara Tucker/National Library of Australia
In the mirror: self-portrait with Joy Hester (1939) Albert Tucker
© Barbara Tucker, courtesy of Barbara Tucker
Episode 4:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Costumes by Natalia Gontcharova
© Natalia Goncharova licensed by ADAGP & VISCOPY, Australia
Diaghilev and Stravinsky, Seville (1921) Leonide Massine, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov Igor Stravinsky and Leon Bakst in the garden at the Villa Bellerive (1915)
licensed by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
St Petersburg
licensed by National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Scene from Sleeping Beauty
© St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music
Episode 5:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Superman & Female Torso with Water, Max Dupain Secret Life of Birds and Illustration for Ulysses, Sidney Nolan
courtesy Lady Nolan
Death of an Aviator, The Possessed Self portrait & In the mirror: self-portrait with Joy Hester (1939), Sidney Nolan in his Parkville studio (1945), Albert Tucker
© Barbara Tucker. Courtesy of Barbara Tucker
Episode 6:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Photograph: Fiona Hall
courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney Installation view
'The Art of Fiona Hall' 2005
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Photograph by Andrew Dunbar
Episode 7:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Photograph: Jessie Traill
courtesy John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland
Episode 8:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Eveline Syme by Edith Alsop
Reproduced courtesy University College, Parkville © Estate of Yvonne Aitken
Photograph Ethel Spowers
licensed by National Library of Australia
Episode 9:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Photograph: Henri Toulouse Lautrec
licensed by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Episode 10:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Byrne, the Outlaw, after death Arthur Burman & Finding Byrne's Body, Julian Ashton
licensed by National Library of Australia
Migrants arriving in Sydney, David Moore
© Estate of David Moore
Episode 11:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Episode 12:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Photograph: William Robinson
courtesy Greg Weight Photography
Episode 13:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Episode 14:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Margaret Olley by William Dobell
courtesy of the Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Cypriot, William Dobell,
reproduced with permission from the Collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
The Billy Boy, William Dobell,
reproduced with permission Australian War Memorial
Sketches & Paintings by William Dobell
© Courtesy Sir William Dobell Art Foundation
William Dobell by Max Dupain,
reproduced with permission National Library of Australia and Jill White
Episode 15:
[16.9 MB] [18.2 MB]
Art Photograph: Anne Danger and Albert Gleizes
reproduced with permission Art Gallery of New South Wales Research Library and Archive
Merric Boyd & Open Country
from the Boyd Family Album reproduced with permission the Bundanon Collection
Photograph: Milton Moon
courtesy Milton Moon
Click to see production stills
L-R: Zuñi people: Wakasi, cow kachina c.1910-40 (detail);
Ethel Spowers: Special edition 1936; Natalya Goncharova: Costume design for a peasant woman for Ballets Russes' production of Le Coq d'Or [The Golden Cockerel] 1914 (detail) and Giorgio de Chirico: Costume for a male guest from Le Bal [The ball] 1929 (detail); Alexandra Exter: Costume model of a Martian guard for the film Aelita c.1923.
L-R: Fiona Hall: Leaf Litter, Crambe maritima - Seakale (English currency) 2000-2002 (Detail), © Fiona Hall; Betty Churcher with National Gallery of Australia painting curator Nicola Hall; Sidney Nolan: Set design for the Ballet Icare 1940, courtesy of Lady Nolan; Auguste Rodin: The burghers of Calais c1885–1886 (detail).
Photographer: Images reproduced courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia.
Portraits: John Tsiavis.
More about Hidden Treasures
See our other showcases
Executive Producer
Anna Grieve
Producers
John Hughes, Philippa Campey
Director
John Hughes
Writer & Presenter
Betty Churcher
Classification
Exempt from classification - for educational purposes only
For Teachers
Level: Secondary, Tertiary, Lifelong Learning
Curriculum links include Visual and Creative Arts, English, History, SOSE/HSIE and Media.
Download Teachers Notes here 
.