The National Gallery of Victoria is really two architectural landmarks in one. NGV International, on St Kilda Road, was designed in 1968 by Sir Roy Grounds, one of Australia’s most celebrated modernist architects. His design turned the gallery into a fortress of culture: bluestone walls, a surrounding moat, and the famous Waterwall at the entrance make the approach as memorable as the art inside. Step into the Great Hall and you’ll find Leonard French’s stained-glass ceiling, the largest of its kind in the world, casting a kaleidoscope of color that visitors love to admire lying flat on the floor.
Across the river at Federation Square, the Ian Potter Center opened in 2002, designed by the innovative Lab Architecture Studio with Bates Smart. Its bold, angular façade of glass, zinc, and sandstone feels futuristic, a sharp contrast to Grounds’ solemn geometry. Together, the two sites embody Melbourne itself: a city that treasures heritage while embracing the avant-garde. Visiting both is like walking through two chapters of architectural history, each telling its own story about art and the city.
The NGV is Australia’s oldest and most visited art museum, famous for its world-class collection spanning European masters, Indigenous Australian art, Asian traditions, and contemporary design.
Highlights include Picasso’s Weeping Woman (1937), Giambattista Tiepolo’s The Banquet of Cleopatra (1743), Tom Roberts’ Shearing the Rams (1890), and Japanese ukiyo-e prints such as Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831).
NGV International shows global art, while NGV Australia at Federation Square is dedicated to Australian and Indigenous works. Together, they give visitors two different perspectives on art and culture.
Leonard French’s stained-glass masterpiece is the world’s largest of its kind. Many visitors lie on the floor to watch light shift across the hall.
Blockbuster shows, like Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, change annually. Smaller temporary and rotating exhibitions also run throughout the year, so the experience is never the same twice.
Absolutely. NGV has dedicated children’s galleries, interactive workshops, and family-friendly exhibitions designed to keep younger visitors engaged.
National Gallery of Victoria Tickets: 2025 French Impressionism Exhibition
National Gallery of Victoria Tickets: 2025-26 Westwood | Kawakubo Exhibition
A large portion of NGV’s acquisitions come from the Felton Bequest (a bequest by Alfred Felton in 1904). Over the years, more than 15,000 works have been purchased through this fund.
The NGV International building is famously surrounded by a shallow moat and water features, part of a cohesive architectural vision to frame the gallery elegantly.
The recent Yayoi Kusama exhibition (2024–25) shattered NGV records: over 570,000 visitors, making it the most attended ticketed exhibition in NGV history and the highest attendance for a visual art show ever in Australia.