[citation needed] The gallery's historical Asian collection spans from the neolithic period through to the 20th century, and highlights the artistic developments influenced by social change, philosophy and technique.

The department aims to show the importance of cultural exchange in the region and its continuing role in the development of Asia's decorative traditions, and helps to contextualise the contemporary Asian collection.

Some of the artists represented include Xu Bing, Atul Dodiya, Nam June Paik, Yayoi Kusama, Lee Ufan and Ai Weiwei.

Works from the colonial period highlight the influence of European traditions, and the emergence of a distinctly Australian vernacular with the Heidelberg School movement in the late 19th century.

Some of the leading artists represented in the collection include, Peter Booth, eX De Medici, Fiona Hall, Bea Maddock, Jan Nelson, Patricia Piccinini, Tony Tuckson, Anne Ferran, Bill Henson, Rosemary Laing, Pat Brassington, Tracey Moffatt, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Hossein Valamanesh, Ian Burn, Aleks Danko, Susan Norrie and Mike Parr.

The gallery's historical international art collection focuses on Western European and North American work, and spans from the early Renaissance to the second half of the twentieth century.