National Gallery Of Australia

Just so visitors know, this is called the National Gallery of Australia, but there is also a National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. In my view the Melbourne Gallery is the better one to visit if you only have time to see one of them – just a personal opinion.

I have been going here since I can remember. For a long time it was THE gallery, but now that I’ve been to alot of others it was at first less significant than I thought it to be, but then later it became MORE significant than you would expect for a place the size of canberra.

It’s strengths are it’s Indigenous, Asian and Australian art collections, but it also has a few from the biggies like monet, rodin, van gogh etc. The Asian textiles collection is excellent and is featured in a current exhibition, as well as two previous ones.

The sculpture garden is really nice, with sculptures hidden amongst the gum trees, and the 4th floor members’ lounge has a great view to the north.

Entry to the main galleries is FREE, but they charge admission to major touring exhibitions – these are usually pretty good and worth the extra money if you can afford it.

oh and the revolving doors at the front are fun when you are a kid! ditto the leather couches in the toilets!

and i never miss the turnoff because of that scultpure of pears out the front!