Art Gallery of New South Wales

The Art Gallery of New South Wales sits on the edge of the Domain, above Woolloomooloo. The original building is late nineteenth-century sandstone with a classical portico and the names of European artists carved along the frieze, and it holds the older Australian and European collections. In December 2022 a second building opened alongside it, a set of low glass and concrete pavilions stepping down the slope toward the harbour, with galleries built into a disused wartime oil tank underneath. The Yiribana Gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art moved into the new building, where it now occupies a prominent position rather than a basement. General entry to both buildings is free.

History

A public meeting on 24 April 1871 set out to found an Academy of Art, and Eliezer Levi Montefiore co-founded the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872, which held annual exhibitions, the first of colonial art in 1874; that year Parliament voted funds for a gallery run by trustees, and in 1875 Conrad Martens's Apsley Falls became the first work on paper by an Australian artist it bought. The collection, first shown at Clark's Assembly Hall in Elizabeth Street, moved in 1879 to a wooden annexe of the Garden Palace in the Domain and opened as the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 22 September 1880; it was called the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1883 to 1958 (Wikipedia, Art Gallery of New South Wales).

What's there

• The Yiribana Gallery - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection, given a full floor in the new building.
• The Tank - a cavernous underground space converted from a fuel reservoir, used for large installations.
• The Australian rooms - colonial landscape painting and the well-known nineteenth-century canvases in the old building.
• The Archibald Prize - the annual portrait competition, shown here each winter and argued about nationally.

When to go

Open daily, with one late evening a week that is usually calm. The Archibald Prize runs roughly from May into August and is by far the busiest period, with weekend queues. Weekday mornings outside school holidays are best. The walk across the Domain is pleasant in autumn and spring and exposed in midsummer heat.

Things to know

The two buildings are joined by a walk across a road bridge rather than an internal link, which surprises people. The new pavilion has drawn criticism for having large amounts of circulation space relative to hanging space. The Archibald crowds are heavy and the room is small for the numbers. Parking is limited and expensive, so walk or take a bus.

Nearby

The Royal Botanic Garden, the Domain and Woolloomooloo Bay are all adjacent.

Key facts