The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It has a collection of almost 45,000 works of art, making it the second largest state art collection in Australia (after the National Gallery of Victoria). As part of North Terrace cultural precinct, the gallery is flanked by the South Australian Museum to the west and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

to the east. Jason Smith has been director of AGSA since February 2025. As well as its permanent collection, which is especially renowned for its collection of Australian art, AGSA hosts the annual Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art known as '' Tarnanthi'', displays a number of visiting exhibitions each year and also contributes travelling exhibitions to regional galleries. European (including

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

), Asian and North American art are also well represented in its collections.

History

Establishment

The South Australian Society of Arts, established in 1856 and oldest fine arts society still in existence, held annual exhibitions in South Australian Institute rooms and advocated for a public art collection. In 1880 Parliament gave £2,000 to the institute to start acquiring a collection and the National Gallery of South Australia was established in June 1881 with 22 works purchased at the

Melbourne International Exhibition The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere. Preparations After being granted self-gov ...

, together with others lent by Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, the British Government and private collectors. It was opened in two rooms of the public library (now the Mortlock Wing of the State Library), by

Prince Albert Victor Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his ...

and Prince George. In 1889 the collection was moved to the

Jubilee Exhibition Building The Jubilee Exhibition Building in Adelaide, South Australia, was built to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne on 20 June 1837. The jubilees of her Coronation on 28 June 183 ...

, where it remained for ten years. On 6 March 1897 Sir Thomas Elder died, bequeathing £25,000 to the art gallery for the purchase of artworks. The Elder bequest was the first major endowment to any Australian gallery, seven years before the Felton Bequest to the NGV.

Buildings

In response to the Elder Bequest, the Government commissioned a specially designed building (now the Elder Wing) and pushed ahead with all due speed, to provide employment for skilled tradesmen in a time of economic recession. The building was designed by C. E. Owen Smyth in Classical Revival style, built by Trudgen Brothers, and opened by the Governor, Lord Tennyson on 7 April 1900. Originally built with an enclosed portico, a 1936 refurbishment and enlargement included a new facade with an open Doric portico. Major extensions in 1962 (including a three-storey air-conditioned addition on the northern side), 1979 (general refurbishment, in time for its

centenary A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

in 1981) and 1996 (large expansion) increased the gallery's display, administrative and ancillary facilities further.Barbara Cooper and Maureen Matheson, ''The World Museums Guide'', McGraw-Hill, (1973) The building is listed in the South Australian Heritage Register. , the building houses 64kWh worth of solar battery storage as part of the Government of South Australia Storage Demonstration project, powered by three 7.5 kW Selectronic inverters. This reduces the consumption of power from the state grid.

Governance

In 1939, an act of parliament, the ''Libraries and Institutes Act 1939'', repealed the ''Public library, Museum and Art Gallery and Institutes Act'' and separated the Gallery from the Public Library (now the State Library), and Museum, established its own board and changed its name to the Art Gallery of South Australia. The ''Art Gallery Act 1939'' was passed to provide for the control of the library. This has been amended several times since. In 1967 the National Gallery of South Australia changed its name to the Art Gallery of South Australia. From about 1996 until late 2018 Arts SA (later Arts South Australia) had responsibility for this and several other statutory bodies such as the Museum and the State Library, after which the functions were transferred to direct oversight by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Arts and Culture section. Christopher Menz was director of the gallery until 2010, when he refused to renew his five-year contract because he believed that government funding to the gallery was inadequate. Nick Mitzevich was appointed as director in July 2010, when he was hardly known in SA. He had grand ambitions and made a big impression in the eight years he ran AGSA. During this time, he acquired and commissioned works that would make an impression on the public, such as projecting an AES+F video work onto the gallery's façade during the Adelaide Fringe in 2012, and buying an entire exhibition of 16 paintings by Ben Quilty on the 130th anniversary of AGSA. He also hung ''We Are All Flesh'', an epoxy resin sculpture of two headless horses by Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, from the ceiling of the gallery, which attracted much press coverage. His overall approach was to display contemporary works in close proximity to classics. Although he had a few detractors, the general opinion was that he had done a fine job at AGSA. His achievements included curating the highly successful 2014 Adelaide Biennial, the purchase of Camille Pissarro's ''Prairie à Eragny'', with its million price raised from donations only. He also oversaw a major internal refurbishment of the gallery, introduced the Tarnanthi festival, hosted large-scale exhibitions, and greatly increased the collection of both contemporary Australian and international art. Annual visitor numbers increased from 480,000 in 2010 to 800,000 by the time of his departure. He was the first gallery director in Australia to implement a

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

project, which investigates old objects which were acquired without historical checks. After the departure of Mitzevich, who left to lead the National Gallery of Australia in April 2018, the first female director in the history of AGSA was appointed. On 22 October of that year, Australian-born Rhana Devenport started her appointment after leaving the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, where she had been director since 2013. In March 2024 Devenport announced her departure after her contract ends on 7 July 2024, after serving for six years. In June 2024, Lisa Slade, who joined the gallery in 2011 as project curator and was appointed assistant director, artistic programs, in 2015, announced her departure from 3 July 2024, after being appointed Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, a position based in the Art History Program in the School of Culture and Communication. In February 2025 Jason Smith, former director of the Geelong Gallery, Heide Museum of Modern Art, and Monash Gallery of Art, began his term as director of AGSA. On 13 June 2025, the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

Frances Adamson Frances Jennifer Adamson (born 20 April 1961) is an Australian public servant and diplomat who is the 36th Governor of South Australia, in office since 7 October 2021. She previously served as Australian Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2015 a ...

, and her husband Rod Bunten were named as the inaugural patrons of the gallery. Their main role will be "advocacy on a national and international scale".

Collection

, the AGSA collection comprises almost 45,000 works of art. Of the state galleries, only the National Gallery of Victoria is larger. It attracts about 512,000 visitors each year. Lindy Lee's sculpture "The Life of Stars" is mounted on the forecourt of the gallery, after being presented for the 2018 Biennial, ''Divided Worlds''. Created in Shanghai in 2015, the sculpture's polished stainless steel surface reflects its surroundings during the day and radiates light at night. Over 30,000 perforated holes individually placed by Lee resemble a map of our galaxy when lit from within. The sculpture was bought by the gallery as a farewell "gift" for and tribute to departing director Nick Mitzevich in April 2018.

Australian art

The Gallery is renowned for its collections of Australian art, including Indigenous Australian and colonial art, from about 1800 onwards. The collection is strong in nineteenth-century works (including silverware and

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

) and in particular Australian Impressionist (often referred to as Heidelberg School) paintings. Its twentieth-century Modernist art collection includes the work of many female artists, and there is a large collection of South Australian art, which includes 2,000 drawings by Hans Heysen and a large collection of photographs. Heidelberg school works include

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

' '' A break away!'', Charles Conder's '' A holiday at Mentone'', and Arthur Streeton's ''Road to Templestowe''. The mid-twentieth century is represented by works by Russell Drysdale,

Arthur Boyd Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...

, Margaret Preston, Bessie Davidson, and Sidney Nolan, and South Australian art includes works by James Ashton and

Jeffrey Smart Frank Jeffrey Edson Smart (26 July 1921 – 20 June 2013) was an expatriate Australian painter known for his precisionist depictions of urban landscapes that are "full of private jokes and playful allusions". Smart was born and educated ...

. The Gallery became the first Australian gallery to acquire a work by an Indigenous artist in 1939, although systematic acquisition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art was not realised until the mid-1950s. The Gallery and now holds a large and diverse collection of older and contemporary works, including the ''Kulata Tjuta'' collaboration created by Aṉangu artists working in the north of SA.

International

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an landscape paintings include works by Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael, Salomon van Ruysdael,

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

, and Camille Pissarro. Other European works include paintings by Goya, Francesco Guardi,

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...

and

Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. A pivotal figure in landscape painting, his vast output si ...

. There is a large collection of British art, including many Pre-Raphaelite works, by artists

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

, William Holman Hunt,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

and Morris & Co. Other works include John William Waterhouse's '' Circe Invidiosa'' (1892) and '' The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius'' (c.1883); William Holman Hunt's ''Christ and the Two Marys'' (1847) and ''The Risen Christ with the Two Marys in the Garden Of Joseph of Aramathea'' (1897); and John Collier's ''Priestess of Delphi'' (1891). Works by British portrait painters include Robert Peake,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

and

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

includes works by

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

, Barbara Hepworth, Jacob Epstein and Thomas Hirschhorn. The Asian art collection, begun in 1904, includes work from the whole region, with focuses on the pre-modern

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

, art of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The Gallery holds Australia's only permanent display of

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...

Exhibitions and collaborations

As well as its permanent collection, AGSA hosts the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, displays a number of visiting exhibitions each year and contributes travelling exhibitions to regional galleries.

Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

The Adelaide Biennial is "the only major biennial dedicated solely to presenting contemporary Australian art", and also the longest-running exhibition featuring contemporary Australian art. It is supported by the Australia Council and other sponsors. It is presented in association with the Adelaide Festival and staged by AGSA and partner gallery the Samstag Museum, as well as other venues such as the Adelaide Botanic Garden, Mercury Cinema and JamFactory. The Adelaide Biennial was established in 1990, planned to coincide with Artist's Week, which had commenced in 1982 to help counter the poor coverage of visual art in the Adelaide Festival of Arts programme at that time. The

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

introduced an exhibition of Australian art called Australian Perspecta in 1981, which ran in alternate years with the international Biennale of Sydney, in response for the need for more forums focussing on Australian art. In its first iteration in 1990, The Adelaide Biennale set out to emulate the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

of American art in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and was intended to complement the Sydney Biennale and the Australian Perspecta exhibitions. Then director Daniel Thomas said that they had introduced the Biennial to keep Australia up to date: the Festival attracts international and interstate visitors and it was a good time to introduce contemporary Australian art to this audience. Artists such as Fiona Hall, whose work is now in the National Gallery of Art, were showcased at the first Biennial. The exhibition today still projects Thomas' vision, with the most noticeable difference being that the current version has a theme and a catchy title.

Selected events

The 2014 Biennial was titled "Dark Heart", an examination of changing national sensibilities, mounted by director Nick Mitzevitch, with 28 artists exhibiting. In 2016, the gallery participated in the large "Biennial 2016" art festival with its "Magic Object" exhibitions. In 2018, the title was "Divided Worlds", which aimed "...to describe the divide between ideas and ideologies, between geographies and localities, between communities and nations, and the subjective and objective view of experience and reality itself". Venues included the Museum of Economic Botany in the Adelaide Botanic Garden. It drew record crowds, with more than 240,000 people over a 93-day season under curator Erica Green. Curator for the 2020 Biennial, which was scheduled to run from 29 February to 8 June 2020, was Leigh Robb, inaugural Curator of Contemporary Art appointed in 2016. The title was "Monster Theatres", examining "our relationships with each other, the environment and technology" and featured a lot of

live art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

. Paintings, photography, sculpture, textiles, film, video, sound art, installation, and performance art by 23 artists were featured, including work by Abdul Abdullah, Stelarc, David Noonan, Garry Stewart and Australian Dance Theatre, Megan Cope, Karla Dickens, Julia Robinson, performance artist Mike Parr, Polly Borland, Willoh S. Weiland, Yhonnie Scarce (whose work ''In the Dead House'' was installed in the old Adelaide Lunatic Asylum morgue building in the Botanic Garden) and others. However, AGSA had to temporarily close from 25 March 2020 owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

, so some of the exhibits were shown online, along with virtual tours of the exhibition. When the gallery reopened on 8 June, it was announced that the exhibition period would be extended to 2 August 2020. The 2022 event was called ''Free/State'', and among others featured the work of Hossein Valamanesh, who died in February, and his wife Angela Valamanesh. It ran from 4 March to 5 June, and was curated by

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

-based Burramattagal man Sebastian Goldspink. The theme was inspired by the history of South Australia as a "free colony", and also had resonances with states of being and psychology, and contrasting ideas of freedom. Other artists featured include

Shaun Gladwell Shaun Gladwell (born 1972) is an Australian contemporary artist whose work spans moving image, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, performance and virtual reality. Early life Gladwell was born in Sydney in 1972 and graduated from Syd ...

, JD Reformer, Tom Polo, Rhoda Tjitayi, Stanislava Pinchuk, and collaborators James Tylor and Rebecca Selleck.

Tarnanthi

Since 2015, AGSA has hosted and supported events connected with Tarnanthi (pronounced tar-nan-dee), the Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. The 2015 exhibition was said to be the "most ambitious exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in its 134-year history". In association with the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

and BHP, an expansive city-wide festival is staged biennially (in odd-numbered years), alternating with a focus exhibition at the gallery in the years in between.

Other notable exhibitions

1906: ''The Light of the World''

In 1906, when William Holman Hunt's ''The Light of the World'' was on display, 18,168 visitors crammed through the gallery in less than two weeks to see it.

Sponsorship and prizes

Diana Ramsay (7 May 1926 – 2017) and her husband James Ramsay (1923–1996) were art-lovers who gave generously to the art gallery. the gallery had acquired over 100 artworks thanks to their generosity, including paintings by

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

, Clarice Beckett,

Angelica Kauffmann Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, ...

and Camille Pissarro. Diana launched the Ramsay Art Prize in 2016, a year before her death, and the couple's legacy lives on in the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, established in 2008. The bequest was established by James' will in 1994, and upon Diana's death in 2017, James' entire estate and part of Diana's was bequeathed to it. The Foundation supports the children and family programs, whereby more than 300,000 children and families have visited AGSA since the creation of the programs in 2013. In November 2019 it was announced that the couple had made a bequest of } to AGSA, to be used for the purchase of major works. This was one of the largest bequests ever made to an art gallery in Australia. The family's wealth had accrued mainly thanks to James’ uncle

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who was responsible for developing Kiwi boot polish, and his artist brother Hugh Ramsay influenced the family's love of the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. James' father was Sir John Ramsay, noted surgeon.

Ramsay Art Prize

In 2016, a new national $100,000 acquisitive art prize for artists, open to Australian artists under 40 working in any medium, was announced by the

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

, Jay Weatherill. Supported by the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation (and launched by Diana on her 90th birthday), it is the country's richest art prize, awarded biennially. Chosen by an international judging panel, all finalists are exhibited in a major exhibition over the winter months at the Gallery. There is also a non-acquisitive Lipman Karas People's Choice Prize based on public vote, worth $15,000.

2017

In its inaugural year, over 450 young artists submitted entries. From the 21 finalists selected for the exhibition,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

-born artist Sarah Contos, now based in

, won the prize for her entry entitled ''Sarah Contos Presents: The Long Kiss Goodbye''. Julie Fragar's 2016 painting ''Goose Chase: All of Us Together Here and Nowhere'', which explores the story of Antonio de Fraga, her first paternal ancestor to emigrate to Australia in the 19th century, won the People's Choice Award.

2019

In 2019, 23 finalists were chosen from a field of 350 submissions. Vincent Namatjira won the main prize with his work ''Close Contact, 2018'', a double-sided full-body representation of a man, in acrylic paint on plywood. Winner of the People's Choice Prize was 24-year-old

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an man Pierre Mukeba (the youngest finalist) for his by painting entitled ''Ride to Church'', inspired by childhood memories of the whole family perched somewhat precariously on a single

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat. Motorcycle designs var ...

to travel to church.

2021

In 2021, 24 finalists were chosen from more than 350 entries. South Australian finalists included the work of musician and painter Zaachariaha Fielding (of the duo Electric Fields) and ''Yurndu (Sun)'', by

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

artist Juanella McKenzie, while Melbourne-based Iranian photographer Hoda Afshar's series entitled ''Agonistes'' was also selected. The prize was won by South Australian artist Kate Bohunnis, for her work entitled ''edge of excess'', a

kinetic sculpture Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

, while Hoda Afshar won the People's Choice Prize with her photographic work, ''Agonistes''.

2023

In 2023, 26 finalists were chosen from more than 300 entries. The South Australian artist Ida Sophia won the prize with her video installation ''witness''. Zaachariaha Fielding won the $15,000 People's Choice prize, with his multi-panel work ''Wonder Drug''.

2025

In 2025, there were 22 finalists, announced in April, with the exhibition to run from 31 May to 31 August 2025.

-born,

-based artist Jack Ball won the prize for his work ''Heavy Grit'', described as "a large-scale mixed media installation partly inspired by historic press coverage of trans and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

lives from the 1950s to the 1970s".

Guildhouse Fellowship

The Guildhouse Fellowship is also supported by the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, and presented in partnership with AGSA. Inaugurated in 2019, the fellowship is intended for mid-career artists, to support opportunities to expand their research and further explore their creative potential. It offers $35,000 to support research and development, including the creation of new work, which is then acquired by the gallery. Past recipients of the fellowship include: *2019: Troy-Anthony Baylis *2020: Sera Waters, textile artist *2021: Liam Fleming, glass artist *2022: Tom Phillips, painter *2023: Kyoko Hashimoto, jewellery designer *2024: Michelle Nikou, sculptor

Gallery

Selected Australian works File:John Glover - A view of the artist's house and garden, in Mills Plains, Van Diemen's Land - Google Art Project.jpg, John Glover, ''A view of the artist's house and garden, in Mills Plains, Van Diemen's Land'', 1835 File:H J. Johnstone - Evening shadows, backwater of the Murray, South Australia - Google Art Project.jpg, H. J. Johnstone, ''Evening shadows, backwater of the Murray, South Australia'', 1880 File:Charles Conder - A holiday at Mentone - Google Art Project.jpg, Charles Conder, '' A holiday at Mentone'', 1888 File:Florence Fuller Mother and Child.jpg, Florence Fuller, ''Mother and Child'', c. 1890 File:John Russell - A clearing in the forest - Google Art Project.jpg, John Russell, ''A clearing in the forest'', 1891 File:Frederick McCubbin - A ti-tree glade - Google Art Project.jpg, Frederick McCubbin, ''A ti-tree glade'', 1897 File:Hugh Ramsay - The four seasons - Google Art Project.jpg, Hugh Ramsay, ''The four seasons'', 1907 File:Motor Lights by Clarice Beckett, 1929.jpg, Clarice Beckett, ''Motor Lights'', 1929 Selected international works File:After Hans HOLBEIN the younger - King Henry VIII - Google Art Project.jpg,

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

(after), ''King Henry VIII'', c. 1540 File:Joseph WRIGHT of Derby - A view of Vesuvius from Posillipo, Naples - Google Art Project.jpg,

, ''A view of Vesuvius from Posillipo, Naples'', c. 1788 File:Théodore Gericault - Head of a Youth - Google Art Project.jpg, Théodore Gericault, ''Head of a Youth'', c. 1821 File:J.M.W. Turner - Alnwick Castle - Google Art Project.jpg, J. M. W. Turner, ''Alnwick Castle'', 1829 File:John William Waterhouse - The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius - 1883.jpg, John William Waterhouse, '' The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius'', 1883 File:Pissarro - Pissarro and Durand-Ruel Snollaerts, 829.png, Camille Pissarro, ''Prairie à Éragny'', 1886 File:Collier-priestess of Delphi.jpg, John Collier, ''Priestess of Delphi'', 1891 File:J. W. Waterhouse - Circe Invidiosa - Google Art Project.jpg, John William Waterhouse, '' Circe Invidiosa'', 1892

Tram stop

There is a stop outside the gallery on North Terrace, on the BTANIC line of the Glenelg tram line, that runs to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Footnotes

References

External links

Art Gallery Of South Australia

Art Gallery of South Australia Artabase page

Virtual tour of the Art Gallery of South Australia
provided by Google Arts & Culture * {{Authority control 1881 establishments in Australia Adelaide Park Lands Art museums and galleries in South Australia Art museums and galleries established in 1881 Arts in Adelaide Museums in Adelaide Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale George V