Throughout the 1870’s, Auckland’s citizenry expressed the desire for a museum that would display works of art. However, the city council refused to allocate funding for any such project. When significant bequeaths were made by former New Zealand Governor Sir George Grey and philanthropist James Tannock Mackelvie in 1888, a combined art gallery and public library was established. This was the first permanent art gallery in New Zealand. The collection was originally dominated by the Old Masters of Europe. Following World War I, expansions of the facility included workshop spaces for art classes, along with studio spaces for several resident artists. In 2009, American investor, Julian Robertson donated $115 million dollars worth of art, which included works of Gauguin, Matise, Cezanne, Picasso, Dali, and several others. Today, the gallery has over 15,000 pieces of art from a wide variety of styles, periods, and media and is considered to be the premier gallery in Auckland.
Taken from the second floor balcony, this
photo depicts how the building’s decor enhances the art works on display.
Henri Gascard’s circa 1670 portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth.
Visitors were given a sheet of self-adhesive circular stickers and encouraged to “decorate” whatever they wanted in the room...