Feast Your Eyes with the Artworks at Top Art Galleries in Australia

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National Gallery of Victoria

The biggest and most popular Australian art gallery is in Melbourne in Victoria. That gallery is an art museum called “the National Gallery of Victoria”, or “the NGV” as it is known. The museum has two sites: NGV International on St Kilda Road and Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.

The building of NGV International was opened in 1968 and is used to store the international art collection of the gallery. On the other hand, the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is used for the Australian art collection and was opened in 2002. In addition, there will be a third site in 2028 called NGV Contemporary.

The collection in the National Gallery of Victoria varies from Asian, Australian, and international art to photography, prints, and drawings. Some of the most popular arts in the collection are the Buffalo Rangers, Ince Hall Madonna, the Banquet of Cleopatra, and Rachel de Ruvigny.

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Sydney has its own Art Gallery of New South Wales, or “AGNSW” for short, from one of Australia’s major cities to another. It is located in the Domain, and in 1872, it was started as the New South Wales Academy of Art. Two years later, the first public exhibition of the gallery was opened.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is one of the largest galleries in Australia. It has four buildings, namely the Vernon building, Captain Cook wing, Bicentennial extension, Asian Art Gallery expansion, and Sydney Modern Project; each has its purpose.

For the collection, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has categorized it into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, Asian art, Australian art, Contemporary art, Pacific art, photography, and Western art. One of the famous artist’s works in the collection is Head of a Peasant by Vincent van Gogh.

National Gallery of Australia

For an art gallery with the country’s name, it is only right for the gallery to be situated in the capital. The National Gallery of Australia, or “NGA”, is in Australia’s capital, Canberra. It was established in 1967 and is among the largest art museums in the country as it can hold more than 166,000 pieces of art.

Those hundred thousand works of art are divided into eight groups of collections. Those groups are Australian art, Western art, Eastern art, Modern art, Pacific art, photography, crafts, and sculpture garden.

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)

It would be a highlight if the legendary art of Monalisa were displayed in a “MONA” gallery. However, it is not the case, as MONA is the abbreviation of the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Australia. The museum is located on the Berriedale peninsula in Hobart and was opened in early 2011.

MONA is a privately funded museum owned by David Walsh. It is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest private museum that can hold more than 1,900 ancient and modern art from Walsh’s private collection, just like the museum’s name.

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

Another art gallery in Melbourne, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art or “ACCA”, is located on Sturt Street in the Southbank suburb. The gallery was established in 1983, but its current building was not completed until 2002.

The building of ACCA was uniquely designed by Wood Marsh, including the four gallery spaces. It also has a space for outside exhibitions and facilities for a dance company, Chunky Move, and the Malthouse Theatre.

Bendigo Art Gallery

Although not as popular as previous top art galleries in Australia, Bendigo Art Gallery is one of the largest and oldest as it was established in 1887. This art gallery is located at 42 View Street in Bendigo, Victoria. It has a collection of mainly 19th-century paintings from Europe and Great Britain.

Tarrawarra Museum of Art

Another art museum in Victoria, Tarrawarra, where TarraWarra Museum of Art is located, is no more than 50 kilometers from Melbourne. The museum was opened in 2002, and its collection is one of the best modern Australian art from Eva and Marc Besen’s collection of the 1950s as the museum’s owners.

Art Gallery of Western Australia

Australia’s top art galleries are not only in the eastern part of the country. The Art Gallery of Western Australia is located in the country’s western most major city, Perth. It was established in 1895, but the current building was opened in 1979.

Some selected works in the art gallery’s collection are Breaking the News by John Longstaff from 1887, Down on His Luck by Frederick McCubbin from 1889, and Droving into the Light by Hans Heysen from 1921.

Art Gallery of South Australia

Previously known as the National Gallery of South Australia when it was established in 1881, the Art Gallery of South Australia, or “AGSA”, is the art gallery that has the country’s second-largest collection of state art, with about 45 thousand works of art.

The Art Gallery of South Australia is located in North Terrace in Adelaide’s state’s capital. The art gallery houses both Australian art and International art. It even has Indigenous Australian art from as long as 1800.

The Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)

The last art gallery on the list is Brisbane’s Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, also known as “QAGOMA”. The art gallery is located in Stanley Place in Brisbane, Queensland, close to the Brisbane River. The riverside building can be recognized straight away due to its unique architecture.

Before 2006, the 1895-established Queensland Art Gallery had not become one with the Gallery of Modern Art. Right now, both have become one QAGOMA and have a collection of Australian, Pacific, and Asia art recognized globally.

Everyone needs to visit some of these top art galleries in Australia at least once. The rich culture of Australia or the world can be learned through works of art by observing them without any annoying efforts.