The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia . Started in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. The main gallery is located in St Kilda Road, at Southbank , with a branch gallery at Federation Square . The St Kilda Road Gallery, designed by Sir Roy Grounds, opened in 1968. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites ? NGV International on St Kilda Road, redesigned by Mario Bellini, and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, designed by LAB Architecture Studio. ^[1]

When the gallery opened, Victoria had been an independent colony for ten years. After the Victorian gold rush , it was easily the richest part of Australia, and Melbourne the largest city. Generous gifts from rich citizens, including the industrialist Alfred Felton , made it possible for the National Gallery to start buying large collections of overseas works from both old and modern masters. It has over 65,000 works of art. ^[2]

The National Gallery of Victoria Art School began in 1867. It was the leading centre for art training in Australia until about 1910. ^[3] The School’s graduates, such as Sidney Nolan , went on to become some of Australia’s most significant artists.