The Art Gallery of NSW (artgallery.nsw.gov.au; free) is an impressive home for one of Australia’s largest collections of art. The setting is lovely, tucked away on the edge of the grassy expanse of The Domain, overlooking Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf. Allow half a day to do it justice, although art aficionados could easily spend longer.
The revered Naala Nura building has a neoclassical Greek frontage and a modern rear end. In the Grand Courts on the ground floor you'll find historic works spanning the years 1400 to 1900. Spread between this floor and the lower one are galleries devoted to 20th-century art and the institution's notable Asian collection.
The adjacent Naala Badu building is home to the Yiribana Gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, contemporary art (from 2000 to the present) and further temporary exhibition galleries. The most intriguing space is a subterranean WWII oil-storage tank, now an interactive art park.
Blockbuster international touring exhibitions arrive regularly and the gallery also plays host to lectures, concerts, screenings, celebrity talks and children's activities.
The unfailingly controversial Archibald Prize for Australian portraiture exhibits here annually, as do the Wynne Prize (landscape or figure sculpture), the Sulman Prize (subject or mural painting) and the Artexpress exhibition of the year’s best school-student art.
The cafe and restaurant are fine places to hang out, with outdoor seating and views over Woolloomooloo Bay.
Admission is free (except for special exhibitions), with daily themed and kids’ tours. The gallery is wheelchair accessible and offers aids for visitors with low or color-vision impairment.
