Art Gallery of Western Australia

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is the state art gallery of Western Australia, functioning as a national gallery for the state. Founded in 1895, it is located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, the state capital. The gallery is supported and managed by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries of the Government of Western Australia, which owns the institution. AGWA holds a collection of approximately 17,000 to over 18,000 artworks, with a total value exceeding A$300 million as of 2018. The gallery serves as a major cultural institution in Western Australia, typically attracting between 345,000 and 400,000 visitors annually, though attendance dropped to approximately 319,000 in 2011/12 due to building works.

AGWA traces its origins to 1895, when it was established as a public art gallery. Its early home was the Jubilee Building, which it shared with the State Museum and Library. The Jubilee Building had been conceived as a public library to honour Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, but only its foundation was laid at that time. The foundation stone for the Art Gallery portion was laid in July 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later George V), shortly after Australian federation. Several prominent figures shaped this early period, including John Winthrop Hackett, James Battye, Ludwig Glauert, George Pitt Morison, and architect George Temple-Poole. Sir James Dromgole Linton recommended purchases for what became the State Art Collection. The gallery's administration moved into the former Police Quarters in the 1970s, a building designed by architect Hillson Beasley, who also designed Government House, and constructed during the 1890s Kalgoorlie gold rush. The main gallery building was constructed in 1977 and opened in 1979, spurred by a later mining boom and Western Australia's increased emphasis on cultural institutions ahead of the 150th anniversary of federation. The architect was Charles Sierakowski from the Public Works Department, working with engineer Philip Nadebaum and the firm Summerhayes and Associates. The building employed Bauhaus principles with a Brutalist exterior, featuring an innovative slab and shear head column system that was novel for Western Australia. The former 1905 courthouse adjacent to the main building was renovated and opened as the Centenary Galleries in 1995. In 2017, AGWA announced AGWA Elevate, a rooftop redevelopment for sculpture, events, restaurants, and film, which opened in November 2021 with A$10 million in state government support. Also in 2017, the Six Seasons project was launched to increase focus on Indigenous art, inaugurating a dedicated permanent Indigenous gallery alongside a special exhibit for the Perth International Arts Festival.

The State Art Collection encompasses roughly 17,000 works, with holdings spanning multiple periods and media. The historical collection includes works from the 1700s to the 1910s. The Aesthetic Movement influenced aspects of the gallery's early collecting. Indigenous art forms a major strength, with AGWA holding more than 3,000 works by Aboriginal artists. The collection includes Indigenous traditional and contemporary art from the Northern Territory and Western Australia, as well as Western Australian art from the 1820s to the 1960s. The gallery maintains topical displays on key themes drawn from the collection. A significant initiative is Desert River Sea: Kimberley Art Then and Now, a major project begun around 2013 with A$1.8 million in funding support from Rio Tinto. This six-year collaboration between AGWA and Aboriginal artists and six art centres of the Kimberley culminated in the 2019 exhibition Desert River Sea: Portraits of the Kimberley, which has a dedicated website. AGWA also presents the annual Year 12 Perspectives exhibition, showcasing work by talented graduating high school artists; the 2018 edition featured 55 works.

While specific individual masterpieces are not detailed in the available sources, the collection's notable strengths include its extensive Indigenous art holdings and its historical Western Australian art. The historical collection, moved in 2018 from the Centenary Galleries to a location adjacent to the Six Seasons gallery in the main building, preserves works from the 1700s through the 1910s. The gallery has hosted significant temporary exhibitions including Auguste Rodin (2001), Max Ernst: Surreal, Books and Graphics (2002), Islamic Art and Patronage from Kuwait (2002), The Pre-Raphaelite Dream from the Tate Gallery (2003), Traces of Genius featuring Renaissance, Dutch, and French drawings (2003), Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India (2004-2005), St Petersburg 1900 (2005), Norman Lindsay etchings (2006-2007), Egyptian art on loan from the Louvre (2007), and The Cost of Living in 2022.

AGWA occupies a multi-building complex within the Perth Cultural Centre. The main gallery building, opened in 1979, was designed by Charles Sierakowski of the Public Works Department in collaboration with engineer Philip Nadebaum and Summerhayes and Associates. The design follows Bauhaus principles with a Brutalist exterior, and incorporated the innovative slab and shear head column system, then a novel architectural feature in Western Australia. The building is linked to the old courthouse, now known as the Centenary Galleries, which dates from 1905 and was renovated and opened as gallery space in 1995. The Administration Building is housed in the former Police Quarters, designed by Hillson Beasley. The gallery sits near the Western Australian Museum and the State Library of Western Australia. The AGWA Elevate rooftop project, opened in November 2021, added event and sculpture space atop the main building.

The Art Gallery of Western Australia is located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by the Government of Western Australia and managed by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. The gallery is situated near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia, forming part of a significant cultural precinct. The gallery hosts several annual prize exhibitions that draw national attention. The Lester Prize, formerly the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, is exhibited at AGWA during October and November each year. Founded by Tina Wilson in 2007, it moved to AGWA in 2016 and was renamed in April 2019 for patron Richard (Dick) Lester. As of 2022, the main prize is worth A$50,000 with a total prize pool of A$105,000. The Tom Malone Glass Art Prize, established in 2003 by Elizabeth Malone, awards contemporary glass art. Worth A$15,000 in 2022 and increased to A$20,000 in 2023, it marked its 20th year in 2022. Recent winners include Clare Belfrage (2005, 2011), Mark Eliott (2019), Mel Douglas (2020), Tim Edwards (2022), and Liam Fleming (2023).