The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily co ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two sites: NGV International, located on

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, i ...

in the

Melbourne Arts Precinct The Melbourne Arts Precinct is home to a series of galleries, performing arts venues and spaces located in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. It includes such publicly-funded venues as Arts Centre Melbourne, National ...

of Southbank, and the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, located nearby at Federation Square. The NGV International building, designed by

Sir Roy Grounds Sir Roy Burman Grounds (18 December 19052 March 1981) was an Australian architect. His early work included buildings influenced by the Moderne movement of the 1930s, and his later buildings of the 50s and 60s, such as the National Gallery of V ...

, opened in 1968, and was redeveloped by Mario Bellini before reopening in 2003. It houses the gallery's international art collection and is on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, designed by Lab Architecture Studio, opened in 2002 and houses the gallery's Australian art collection. A third site, The Fox: NGV Contemporary, is planned to open in 2028, and will be Australia's largest contemporary gallery.

History

19th century

In 1850, the Port Phillip District of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

was granted separation, officially becoming the colony of Victoria on 1 July 1851. In the wake of a gold rush the following month, Victoria emerged as Australia's richest colony, and

, its capital, Australia's largest and wealthiest city. With Melbourne's rapid growth came calls for the establishment of a public art gallery, and in 1859, the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and ...

pledged £2000 for the acquisition of plaster casts of sculpture. These works were displayed in the Museum of Art, opened by Governor Sir Henry Barkly in May 1861 on the lower floor of the south wing of the

Public Library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamen ...

(now the State Library of Victoria) on Swanston Street. he History of the State Library of Victoria http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/slvhistory/museumgallerypro/ref> Further money was set aside in the early 1860s for the purchase of original paintings by British and Victorian artists. These works were first displayed in December 1864 in the newly opened Picture Gallery, which remained under the curatorial administration of the Public Library until 1882. Grand designs for a building fronting Lonsdale and Swanston streets were drawn by Nicholas Chevalier in 1860 and Frederick Grosse in 1865, featuring an enormous and elaborate library and gallery, but these visions were never realised. Opening of the new fine arts gallery NGV 1875

Opening of the new fine arts gallery NGV 1875

On 24 May 1874, the first purpose built gallery, known as the McArthur Gallery, opened in the McArthur room of the State Library, and the following year, the Museum of Art was renamed the National Gallery of Victoria. The McArthur Gallery was only ever intended as a temporary home until the much grander vision was to be realised. However such an edifice did not eventuate and the complex was instead developed incrementally over several decades. The

National Gallery of Victoria Art School The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Galler ...

, associated with the gallery, was founded in 1867 and remained the leading centre for academic art training in Australia until about 1910. The School's graduates went on to become some of Australia's most significant artists. This later became the VCA (Victorian College of the Arts), which was bought by The University of Melbourne in 2007 after it went bankrupt. In 1887, the Buvelot Gallery (later Swinburne Hall) was opened, along with the Painting School studios. In 1892, two more galleries were added: Stawell (now Cowen) and La Trobe. In 1888, the gallery purchased Lawrence Alma-Tadema's 1871 painting ''The Vintage Festival'' for £4000, its most expensive acquisition of the 19th century.

20th century

The gallery's collection was built from both gifts of works of art and monetary donations. The most significant, the

Felton Bequest Alfred Felton (8 November 1831 – 8 January 1904) was an Australian entrepreneur, art collector and philanthropist. Biography Alfred Felton was born at Maldon, Essex, England, the fifth child of six sons and three daughters of William Felton, ...

, was established by the will of

Alfred Felton Alfred Felton (8 November 1831 – 8 January 1904) was an Australian entrepreneur, art collector and philanthropist. Biography Alfred Felton was born at Maldon, Essex, England, the fifth child of six sons and three daughters of William Felton, ...

and from 1904, has been used to purchase over 15,000 works of art. Since the Felton Bequest, the gallery had long held plans to build a permanent facility, however it was not until 1943 that the State Government chose a site, Wirth's Park, just south of the Yarra River.National Gallery of Victoria – Victorian Heritage Register £3 million was put forward in February 1960 and Roy Grounds was announced as the architect. In 1959, the commission to design a new gallery was awarded to the architectural firm Grounds Romberg Boyd. In 1962, Roy Grounds split from his partners Frederick Romberg and Robin Boyd, retained the commission, and designed the gallery at 180

(now known as NGV International). The new bluestone clad building was completed in December 1967 and Victorian premier Henry Bolte officially opened it on 20 August 1968. One of the features of the building is the

Leonard French Leonard William French OBE (8 October 1928 – 10 January 2017) was an Australian artist, known principally for major stained glass works. French was born in Brunswick, Victoria to a family of Cornish origin. His stained glass creations inc ...

stained glass ceiling, one of the world's largest pieces of suspended stained glass, which casts colourful light on the floor below. The water-wall entrance is another well-known feature of the building. In 1997, redevelopment of the building was proposed, with Mario Bellini chosen as architect and an estimated project cost of $161.9 million. The design was extensive, creating all new galleries leaving only the exterior, the central courtyard and Great Hall intact. The plans included doing away with the water wall, but following public protests organised by the National Trust Victoria, the design was altered to include a new one slightly forward of the original. During the redevelopment, many works were moved to a temporary external annex known as ‘NGV on Russell’, at the State Library with its entrance on Russell Street.

21st century

A major fundraising drive was launched on 10 October 2000 to redevelop the ageing St Kilda Road building and although the state government committed the majority of the funds, private donations were sought in addition to federal funding. The drive achieved its aim and secured $15 million from the

Ian Potter Sir William Ian Potter (25 August 190224 October 1994), known as Ian Potter, was an Australian stockbroker, businessman and philanthropist. Potter was knighted in 1962. The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants t ...

Foundation on 11 July 2000, $3 million from Loti Smorgon, $2 million from the Clemenger Foundation, and $1 million each from James Fairfax and the Pratt Foundation. NGV on Russell closed on 30 June 2002 to make way for the staged opening of the new St Kilda Road gallery. It was officially opened by premier

Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 ...

on 4 December 2003. The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in Federation Square was designed by Lab Architecture Studio to house the NGV's

Australian art Australian art is any art made in or about Australia, or by Australians overseas, from prehistoric times to the present. This includes Aboriginal, Colonial, Landscape, Atelier, early-twentieth-century painters, print makers, photographers, ...

collection. It opened in 2002. As such, the NGV's collection is now housed in two separate buildings, with Grounds' building renamed NGV International.

Locations

St Kilda Road: NGV International

NGV international is located at 180 St Kilda Rd and houses the NGV's European, Asian, Oceanic and American art collections. It houses a number of permanent displays, arranged by region and chronology. It also has a large ground-floor space used for temporary exhibitions, and contemporary art spaces on level 3 are also used for temporary exhibitions. The building is surrounded by a moat and fountains, while the main entrance features a famous water wall, which has been used to display the art of

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

and others. At the rear of NGV International is a sculpture garden, which hosts an annual large-scale installation through the NGV Architecture Commission.

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

NGV Australia is located in the

Ian Potter Centre The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is an art gallery that houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is located at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria ...

at Federation Square. The building houses the NGV's Australian collection, with a permanent display presenting a chronological history of Australian art and a selection of the galley's 25,000 Australian works. NGV Australia has a particular focus on Indigenous Australian art, and alongside the permanent displays presents temporary exhibitions relating to Australian art and history.

The Fox: NGV Contemporary

NGV Contemporary (Melbourne Arts Precinct)

In 2018, the State Government of Victoria announced a new contemporary art gallery would built behind the Arts Centre and the existing NGV International building. The Government spent $203 million to begin the project, including $150 million to purchase the former Carlton and United Breweries building for the new gallery. The new building is part of a major new $1.7 billion redevelopment of the surrounding Melbourne Arts Precinct which is planned to include 18,000 square metres of new public space, new space for contemporary art and design exhibitions, and a new home for the Australian Performing Arts Gallery. The Ian Potter Foundation pledged $20 million for the new building. The masterplan for the precinct was approved in 2022. The public space is being designed by architecture firms HASSELL and

SO-IL SO – IL or Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu is an architecture firm in Brooklyn, New York City, which was founded in 2008 by Florian Idenburg (born 1975, Netherlands) and Jing Liu (born 1980, China).Hamer Hall and Southbank Boulevard. The winner of the design competition for the NGV Contemporary was announced in March 2022 as Angelo Candalepas and Associates. In April it was announced that billionaires Paula and Lindsay Fox had donated $100 million to the NGV Contemporary project in the largest ever donation to an Australian art museum, and that the gallery would be named The Fox: NGV Contemporary. Then new gallery will have 13,000 square metres of exhibition space and is planned to open in 2028. It will be Australia's largest contemporary gallery.

Collection

Asian art

Katsushika Hokusai The Great Wave off Kanagawa 1830

The NGV's Asian art collection began in 1862, one year after the gallery's founding, when

Frederick Dalgety Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety (Canada, 3 December 1817–London, 20 March 1894) was a merchant and financier, the founder of Dalgety plc, one of the United Kingdom's largest conglomerates. He was born in Canada to Alexander Dalgety, army officer, an ...

donated two Chinese plates. The Asian collection has since grown to include significant works from across the continent.

Australian art

The NGV's Australian art collection encompasses Indigenous ( Australian Aboriginal) art and artefacts, Australian colonial art, Australian Impressionist art, 20th century, modern and contemporary art. The first curator of Australian Art was Brian Finemore, from 1960 until his death in 1975. The 1880s saw the birth and development of the

Heidelberg School The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. It has latterly been described as Australian impressionism. Melbourne art critic Sidney Dickinson coined the term in an 1891 review of works by Arthur Streeton and ...

(also known as Australian

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...

) in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, and the NGV was well-placed to acquire some of the movement's key artworks, including

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe ...

' ''

Shearing the Rams ''Shearing the Rams'' is an 1890 painting by Australian artist Tom Roberts. It depicts sheep shearers plying their trade in a timber shearing shed. Distinctly Australian in character, the painting is a celebration of pastoral life and work, e ...

'' (1890),

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mt Moriac, Victoria, so ...

's ''‘ The purple noon's transparent might’'' (1896), and Frederick McCubbin's '' The Pioneer'' (1904). The Australian collection includes works by

Del Kathryn Barton Del Kathryn Barton (born 11 December 1972) is an Australian artist who began drawing at a young age, and studied at UNSW Art & Design (formerly the College of Fine Arts) at the University of New South Wales. She soon became known for her psy ...

Charles Blackman Charles Raymond Blackman (12 August 1928 – 20 August 2018) was an Australian painter, noted for the ''Schoolgirl, Avonsleigh'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' series of the 1950s. He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painte ...

, Clarice Beckett, Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Angela Brennan,

Rupert Bunny Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 186425 May 1947) was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in '' fin-de-siècle'' Paris. He gained an honourable mentio ...

Louis Buvelot Louis Buvelot ( Morges 3 March 1814 – Melbourne 30 May 1888), born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss landscape painter who lived 17 years in Brazil and following 5 years back in Switzerland stayed 23 years in Australia, where he influenced the H ...

, Ethel Carrick, Nicholas Chevalier, Charles Conder,

Olive Cotton Olive Cotton (11 July 191127 September 2003) was a pioneering Australian modernist photographer of the 1930s and 1940s working in Sydney. Cotton became a national "name" with a retrospective and touring exhibition 50 years later in 1985. A book ...

Grace Crowley Grace Adela Williams Crowley (pr: as in "slowly") (28 May 1890 – 21 April 1979) was an Australian artist and modernist painter. Early life and education Grace Crowley was born in May 1890 in Barraba, New South Wales. She was the fourth chi ...

, David Davies, Destiny Deacon, William Dobell, Julie Dowling,

Russell Drysdale Sir George Russell Drysdale (7 February 1912 – 29 June 1981), also known as Tass Drysdale, was an Australian artist. He won the prestigious Wynne Prize for ''Sofala'' in 1947, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1954. He was ...

, E. Phillips Fox,

Rosalie Gascoigne Rosalie Norah King Gascoigne (née Walker; 25 January 191725 October 1999) was a New Zealand-born Australian sculptor and assemblage artist. She showed at the Venice Biennale in 1982, becoming the first female artist to represent Australia there ...

, John Glover, Eugene von Guerard, Fiona Hall,

Louise Hearman Louise Hearman (born 1963) is an artist from Melbourne who has been painting and drawing from a very young age. At high school level she attended Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School in Ringwood in East Victoria where she showed much a ...

, Joy Hester,

Hans Heysen Sir Hans Heysen (8 October 18772 July 1968) was a German-born Australian artist. He became a household name for his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. He is one of Australia's best known landscape painters. Heysen also produced ...

, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, George W. Lambert, Sydney Long, John Longstaff, Frederick McCubbin, Helen Maudsley, Tracey Moffatt, Jan Nelson,

Hilda Rix Nicholas Hilda Rix Nicholas ( Rix, later Wright, 1 September 1884 – 3 August 1961) was an Australian artist. Born in the Victoria (Australia), Victorian city of Ballarat, she studied under a leading Australian Impressionism, Australian Impressio ...

Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of Australia's leading artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of mediums, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

, John Perceval,

Patricia Piccinini Patricia Piccinini (born 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works focus on "unexpected consequences", conv ...

, Margaret Preston,

Thea Proctor Thea may refer to: * Thea (name), a given name * Ancient Greek term for goddess, including an alternative spelling of Theia * ''Thea'', the former name of the tea plant genus, now included in ''Camellia'' * Thea, a village in the municipal unit M ...

Hugh Ramsay Hugh Ramsay (25 May 1877 – 5 March 1906) was an Australian artist. Early life and education Ramsay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 25 May 1877, the son of John Ramsay. He moved with his family to Melbourne in 1878. He was educated at Ess ...

, David Rankin,

, John Russell,

Grace Cossington Smith Grace Cossington Smith (20 April 189220 December 1984) was an Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. Examples of her work are held by every ...

Ethel Spowers Ethel Louise Spowers (11 July 1890 – 5 May 1947) was an Australian artist associated with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. She was especially known for her linocuts, which are included in the collections of major Australian and ...

Clara Southern Clara Southern (3 October 1860 – 15 December 1940) was an Australian artist associated with the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. She was active between the years 1883 and her death in 1940. Physically, Southern was t ...

Jane Sutherland Jane Sutherland (26 December 1853 – 25 July 1928) was an Australian landscape painter who was part of the pioneering plein-air movement in Australia, and a member of the Heidelberg School. Her advocacy to advance the professional standing of fe ...

, Violet Teague, Jenny Watson, Fred Williams and others. A large number of works were donated by Dr. Joseph Brown in 2004 which form the Joseph Brown Collection. Selected works File:Aboriginal shields NGV.jpg, Aboriginal shields File:Nicholas Chevalier - The Buffalo Ranges - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Buffalo Ranges'' (1864) by Nicholas Chevalier, the first painting of an Australian subject to be acquired by the gallery File:Tom Roberts - Shearing the rams - Google Art Project.jpg,

, ''

'', 1890 File:Arthur Streeton Purple 1896.jpg,

, ''‘ The purple noon's transparent might’'', 1896

International art

National Gallery of Victoria Britain & European Collection 2017

The NGV's international art collection encompasses European and international paintings, fashion and textiles, photography, prints and drawings, Asian art, decorative arts, Mesoamerican art, Pacific art, sculpture, antiquities and global contemporary art. It has strong collections in areas as diverse as old masters, Greek vases, Egyptian artefacts and historical European ceramics, and contains the largest and most comprehensive range of artworks in Australia. The international collection includes works by Arbus,

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

, Bordone, Canaletto, Cassatt, Cézanne,

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

, Correggio, Dalí, Degas, Delaunay, van Dyck, Emin, Gainsborough, Gentileschi,

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El ...

Lange Lange may refer to: People * Lange (surname), a German surname *Lange (musician) (born 1974), British DJ * Lange (Brazilian footballer) (born 1966), Brazilian footballer Companies * Lange (ski boots), a producer of ski boots used in alpine (dow ...

Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...

, Memling, Modigliani, Monet,

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Pissarro, Pittoni,

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

, Renoir, Ribera, Riley, Rothko,

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, Tiepolo,

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...

, Turner,

Uccello Uccello () is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonina Uccello (born 1922), American politician * Julian Uccello (born 1986), Canadian soccer player * Luca Uccello (born 1997), Canadian soccer player *Paolo Uccello ...

, Veronese and others. One of the highlights of the NGV's international collection is

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

's first cast of his iconic sculpture ''

The Thinker ''The Thinker'' (french: Le Penseur) is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, usually placed on a stone pedestal. The work depicts a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock. He is seen leaning over, his right elbow placed on his left t ...

'', executed in 1884. The NGV is also home to the only portrait of

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Gover ...

known to have been painted from life, dated to approximately 1515 and attributed to

Dosso Dossi Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542), was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and earl ...

. In 2018, the NGV acquired ''Trilogy of the Desert'' by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

, after launching a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to fill a gap in its European collection. Selected works File:Jan van Eyck 075.jpg,

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. A ...

(

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), ''

Ince Hall Madonna The ''Virgin and Child Reading'' is an oil painting of uncertain date. It is a mid-to-late 15th century imitation of the work of the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, possibly after a now-lost original painting by him from 1433 - another c ...

'', 1433 File:Correggio, Madonna and Child with infant St John the Baptist 1514–15.jpg, Correggio, ''Madonna and Child with infant St John the Baptist'', 1514–15 File:Rembrandt Two old men disputing 1628.jpg,

, ''Two old men disputing'', 1628 File:The Crossing fo The Red Sea.jpg,

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

, '' The Crossing of the Red Sea'', 1634 File:Anthony van Dyck Rachel de Ruvigny.jpg,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

, ''Rachel de Ruvigny, Countess of Southampton'', 1640 File:Giambattista Tiepolo - The Banquet of Cleopatra - Google Art Project.jpg,

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

, '' The Banquet of Cleopatra'', 1743–44 File:George Stubbs 005.jpg,

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds, Reynold ...

, ''A Lion Attacking a Horse'', 1765 File:Thomas Gainsborough - An officer of the 4th Regiment of Foot - Google Art Project.jpg,

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

, ''

Richard St George Mansergh-St George The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkh ...

'', 1776 File:J. M. W. Turner - The Red Rigi - Google Art Project.jpg,

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

, '' The Red Rigi'', 1842 File:John Everett Millais - The rescue - Google Art Project.jpg,

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

, '' The Rescue'', 1855 File:August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck - Anguish - Google Art Project.jpg, August Friedrich Schenck, '' Anguish'', 1878 File:Jules Bastien-Lepage - October - Google Art Project.jpg,

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that emerged from the later phase of the Realist movement. His most famous work is his land ...

, ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

'', 1878 File:Claude Monet - Vétheuil - Google Art Project (427751).jpg,

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

, ''Vétheuil'', 1879 File:Cézanne - FWN 175.jpg,

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

, ''The Uphill Road'', 1881 File:Camille Pissarro - Boulevard Montmartre, morning, cloudy weather - Google Art Project.jpg,

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

, ''Boulevard Montmartre, morning, cloudy weather'', 1897 File:Amedeo modigliani, ritratto dle pittore manuel humbert, 1916.JPG,

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

, ''Portrait of the painter Manuel Humbert'', 1916

Photography

Max Dupain - Sunbaker - Google Art Project

In 1967, the NGV established the first curatorial department dedicated to photography in an Australian public gallery, one of the first in the world. It now holds over 15,000 works. In that same year, the Gallery acquired the photography collection's first work, ''Surrey Hills street'' 1948 by David Moore

and in 1969 the first international work was acquired, ''Nude'' 1939 by František Drtikol

The first photographer to exhibit solo at the NGV was Mark Strizic in 1968. Jennie Boddington, a filmmaker, was appointed first full-time curator of photography in 1972, possibly only the third such appointment amongst world public institutions.

Prints and drawings

William Blake - Dante running from the three beasts - Google Art Project

The NGV's Department of Prints and Drawings is responsible for one third of the gallery's collection. Highlights among the department's holdings include one of the world's largest collections of engravings and woodcuts by Dürer. The NGV is also said to have one of the most impressive collections of works by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of t ...

, including 36 of the 102 watercolours he worked on up until his death in 1827 to illustrate the ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'' by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

, the largest number of works from this series held by any gallery in the world. Rembrandt and Goya are also well-represented, and the Australian collection contains a detailed account of the history of graphic arts in Australia. The NGV no longer dedicates a space to exhibiting works from the Prints and Drawings collection, though some works on paper are rotated within the permanent collection galleries and may appear in exhibitions. Works in the collection may be viewed by appointment in the department's Print Study Room.

Controversies

As a "National Gallery"

When plans for the construction of the National Gallery of Australia in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

became firmly established in the 1960s, Australia's state galleries removed the word "national" from their names (for example, the National Gallery of New South Wales in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

became the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

). This naming convention dated back to the 19th century when Australia's colonies were self-governing political entities and had yet to federate. Only the NGV has retained "national" in its name. This has proven to be somewhat contentious, given that the NGV is technically not a national gallery, and occasionally there have been calls for it to follow the example of the other state galleries. According to former Victorian Premier

, "We won't be renaming the National Gallery of Victoria. It has a great tradition. It is the biggest and best gallery in the country and it's one of the biggest and best in the world."

Withdrawal of ''Chloé''

In May 1883, when the National Gallery of Victoria opened on a Sunday for the first time, a public debate erupted over the propriety of displaying a female nude portrait on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as ...

. The painting in question, French artist Jules Joseph Lefebvre's ''

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative ...

'' (1875), had been loaned to the gallery that month, and was "cautiously displayed in a dim corner". Nonetheless, ''Chloé'' became "Melbourne's ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

''", and after three weeks of scandal, was withdrawn and hidden from the public. It eventually found a home at Melbourne's

Young and Jackson Hotel Young and Jackson is a hotel in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, at the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street. Established in 1861, it is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. History The site was purchased by John Batman, one ...

Slaughtered Cow happening

In 1975, painter and performance artist Ivan Durrant deposited a cow carcass in the NGV forecourt. Durrant later stated that it was part of a performance art piece intended to shock those who might be horrified by the death of the animal while also happy to consume meat. At the time, the NGV denounced the piece as a "sick and disgusting act".

Picasso theft

A famous event in the gallery's history occurred in 1986 with the theft of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

's painting '' The Weeping Woman'' (1936). A person or group identifying themselves as the "Australian Cultural Terrorists" claimed responsibility for the theft, stating that the painting was stolen in protest against the perceived poor treatment of the arts by the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

of the time. They sought as a ransom the establishment of an art prize for young artists. The painting was found undamaged in a railway locker two weeks later and returned to the gallery.

''Piss Christ''

During a retrospective of

Andres Serrano Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer and artist. His work, often considered transgressive art, includes photos of corpses and uses feces and bodily fluids. His ''Piss Christ'' (1987) is a red-tinged photograph of a c ...

's work at the NGV in 1997, the then

Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Rite metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of Melbourne, a suffragan diocese of Archdiocese of Sydney, the diocese was el ...

George Pell George Pell (born 8 June 1941) is an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy between 2014 and 2019, and was a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers between 2013 ...

, sought an injunction from the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

to restrain the gallery from publicly displaying ''Piss Christ'', which was not granted. Some days later, one patron attempted to remove the work from the gallery wall, and two teenagers later attacked it with a hammer. Gallery officials reported receiving death threats in response to ''Piss Christ''. NGV Director

Timothy Potts Dr. Timothy Potts is an Australian art historian, archaeologist, and museum director. He became the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum on 1 September 2012. Biography Timothy Potts was educated at the University of Sydney (BA Hons) and hold ...

cancelled the show, allegedly out of concern for a

exhibition that was also on display at the time. Supporters argued that the controversy over ''Piss Christ'' is an issue of artistic freedom and

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

Special exhibitions

An exhibition known as ''The Field'' opened the gallery's new premises on St Kilda Road in 1968. Reflecting the influence of

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...

, particularly New York-inspired Hard Edge and Color Field painting, it featured 74 works by forty (mostly emerging young) Australian painters and sculptors. Described as a radical departure from the gallery's more traditional program, it signified more broadly a growing internationalisation of the Australian art world. The NGV held an exhibition titled "The Field Revisited" in 2018 to mark its 50th anniversary.

Melbourne Winter Masterpieces

The NGV has held several large exhibitions known as Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibitions, starting with ''Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay'' in 2004.

NGV Triennial

In 2013 the NGV launched "Melbourne Now", an exhibition which celebrated the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice to reflect the complex cultural landscape of creative Melbourne. "Melbourne Now" ran from 22 November 2013 – 23 March 2014 and attracted record attendances of 753,071. Following the success of "Melbourne Now", in 2–14 March the NGV announced a major new initiative, the NGV Triennial. Beginning in the Summer of 2017 and to be held every three years, this ambitious event will be a large-scale celebration of the best of contemporary international art and design. The inaugural Triennial ran from 15 December 2017 to 15 April 2018, and drew almost 1.3 million visitors during its run, making it the most attended exhibition in the gallery's history. The 2020–21 NGV Triennial opened on 19 December 2020 and closed on 18 April 2021. The exhibition, which attracted more than 520,000 visitors during its run, showcased works by more than 100 artists, designers and collectives from 30 countries, with 34 newly commissioned works from a mixture of both Australian and international artists.

Publications

The ''Art Journal of the National Gallery of Victoria'', usually referred to as the ''Art Journal'', was first published as ''The Quarterly Bulletin of the National Gallery of Victoria'' in 1945 (volume 1, no. 1), changing its name and frequency in 1959 to the ''Annual Bulletin of the National Gallery of Victoria'' (edition 1), then to the ''Art Bulletin of Victoria'' in 1967–68 (edition 9) (abbreviated to ABV, edition 42). For Edition 50 in 2011, in its 50th year of publication and 150th anniversary of the gallery, the name was changed to its present name.

Directors of the NGV

Directors of the NGV since its inception: * G. F. Folingsby, 1882–1891 * Lindsay Bernard Hall, 1892–1935 * William Beckwith McInnes, (acting) 1935–1936 * P. M. Carew-Smyth, (acting) 1937 * J. S. Macdonald, 1936–1941 * Sir Ernest

Daryl Lindsay Sir Ernest Daryl Lindsay (31 December 1889, in Creswick, Victoria – 25 December 1976, in Mornington), known as Dan Lindsay, was an Australian artist. Early life He was the youngest son in a large family born to Anglo-Irish surgeon Robert Ch ...

, 1942–1955 * Eric Westbrook, 1956–1973 * Gordon Thomson, 1973–1974 * Eric Rowlison, 1975–1980 *

Patrick McCaughey Patrick McCaughey (born 1942) is an Irish-born Australian art historian and academic. McCaughey was born in Belfast, his father being Davis McCaughey. He migrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia. when he was ten years old. His secondary ...

, 1981–1987 * T. L. Rodney Wilson, 1988 *

James Mollison James Mollison (20 March 1931 – 19 January 2020) was acting director of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) from 1971 to 1977 and director from 1977 to 1989. He was director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1989 to 1995. Ea ...

, AO, 1989–1995 *

, 1995–1998 * Gerard Vaughan, 1999–2012 * Tony Ellwood, 2012–present

References

External links

*
Egyptian objects in the National Gallery of Victoria

Contact Information for the National Gallery of Victoria
*Video

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Melbourne Landmarks in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Buildings and structures completed in 1968 Modernist architecture in Australia Brutalist architecture in Australia Art museums established in 1861 1861 establishments in Australia National museums of Australia * Southbank, Victoria