National Gallery of Victoria

The National Gallery of Victoria opened in 1861 and is the oldest public art gallery in the country, now run as two buildings a short walk apart. NGV International on St Kilda Road holds the international collection behind a sheet of running water that people stand in front of and press their hands against, and inside the Great Hall has a stained glass ceiling by Leonard French that visitors lie flat on the carpet to look at. The Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square holds the Australian collection, from colonial painting to contemporary work, including a substantial display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. General entry to both is free, and the gallery runs large ticketed shows through summer.

History

After gold made Victoria Australia's richest colony, the government pledged £2,000 in 1859 for plaster casts of sculpture, shown in the Museum of Art opened by Governor Sir Henry Barkly in May 1861 in the public library on Swanston Street, and paintings bought in the early 1860s went on show in the new Picture Gallery in December 1864. The Felton Bequest, from the will of Alfred Felton, has bought more than 15,000 works since 1904, the state chose a site south of the Yarra in 1943, and Roy Grounds's building on St Kilda Road opened in 1968 (Wikipedia, National Gallery of Victoria).

Highlights

• The Water Wall - the sheet of water across the St Kilda Road entrance, still the building's best-known feature.
• The Great Hall ceiling - Leonard French's stained glass, best seen lying flat on the carpet beneath it.
• The Australian collection - colonial, modern and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander work at Federation Square.
• The ticketed shows - the big touring exhibitions and the Triennial that fill the St Kilda Road building.

When to go

Both buildings open daily and are busiest at weekends and during school holidays, so weekday mornings are the quietest stretch. Major ticketed exhibitions sell timed slots that go early, so book before you travel. The summer Triennial takes over most of the St Kilda Road building. Melbourne's changeable weather makes this a reliable wet-day option.

What to expect

Two separate buildings under one name confuses first-time visitors who expect a single collection. The free permanent galleries are large enough to tire you before you reach what you came for. Ticketed blockbusters can be crowded to the point of shuffling past the work, and the entrance queue often runs outside. The Water Wall is smaller in person than photographs suggest.

Nearby

Federation Square, the Yarra promenade and the Southbank arts buildings are a short walk away.

Key facts