500,000
Annual Visitors
166,000+ works
Collection
2–3 hours
Recommended Visit
Colin Madigan (1982)
Architect
About National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia, formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia. Located in Canberra, the gallery was established in 1967 by the Australian government, opened in 1982, and holds more than 166,000 works of art.
Designed in the late Brutalist style by the architect Colin Madigan, the building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 October 1982. The building is recognized by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects as a building of national significance.
It holds the world's largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, with major holdings including the Aboriginal Memorial — 200 hollow log coffins from Central Arnhem Land — and an extensive collection of Western Desert paintings.
International highlights include Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles, one of the most discussed art purchases in Australian history, alongside major works by Monet, Picasso, and Warhol.
Masterworks & Must-See Highlights
The works that define National Gallery of Australia — and why they matter.
Blue Poles
Jackson Pollock · 1952
International Art, Level 1
Australia's most famous and controversial art purchase — bought for $1.3 million in 1973 (a world record at the time) amid accusations of government extravagance. Now valued at over $350 million. Pollock's drip-painting is one of the most important works of Abstract Expressionism outside the United States.
Abstract (Leaf)
Emily Kame Kngwarreye · 1994
Australian Indigenous Art
Kngwarreye began painting at 79 and produced an astonishing body of work in just 8 years. Her large canvases of interlocking dots and lines depicting the ecology of her Utopia homeland in central Australia have been exhibited internationally.
Collections & Highlights
Frequently Asked Questions
A small ask before you go
You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.
Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.