What is the National Gallery of Australia?
Q: What is the National Gallery of Australia?
A: The National Gallery of Australia is the national art museum of Australia, located in Canberra.
Q: When was it established?
A: The gallery was established in 1967 by the Australian government.
Q: When did construction begin and how much did it cost?
A: Construction began in 1973 and cost AU$82 million.
Q: Who officially opened the gallery?
A: It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
Q: What type of art does the gallery contain?
A: The gallery holds more than 120,000 works of art in its collection, including Indigenous Australian, European and American art, Asian art collection, and non-indigenous Australian art from famous artists such as Frederick McCubbin, Tom Roberts, William Dobell, Sidney Nolan. Its international collection is mainly focused on late-19th-century and 20th-century art from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol etc.
Q: Does it have a sculpture garden?
A: Yes! A smaller building on the eastern side of the gallery holds temporary exhibitions which includes a sculpture garden with works by Bert Flugelman, Henry Moore, Fujiko Nakaya and Auguste Rodin.
Q: What is unique about its indigenous Australian collection?
A: The indigenous Australian collection is mostly modern but in traditional forms. It is dominated by a memorial of 200 painted tree trunks commemorating all the indigenous people who died defending their land against invaders between 1788 - 1988; each trunk being a coffin used to mark safe journey for souls to next world according to Yolngu culture.
