Art Gallery of Johannesburg (Johannesburg Art Gallery) description and photos - South Africa: Johannesburg (Topic)

Johannesburg Art Gallery description and photos - South Africa: Johannesburg. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. Title in English - Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Photo & Description

The art gallery is located in the Joubert Park area, a few blocks from Johannesburg's main train station. The building was designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and consists of 15 exhibition halls, as well as several outdoor exhibition areas for large sculptures. Its archives contain a collection of British and Dutch painting of the 18th-19th centuries, a collection of European paintings of the 19th century, as well as a large collection of contemporary works by South African and foreign artists.

Collector Dorothea Sarah Florence Alexandra Phillips, wife of a mining magnate Lionel Phillips, formed the gallery's first collection with funds contributed by her husband. After moving to Johannesburg, she began acquiring paintings with the aim of creating an art gallery, which would later become the Johannesburg Art Gallery. She acquired the collection of paintings by the British collector and artist Sir Hugh Lane, exhibited in London in 1910. Lady Phillips donated her lace collection and persuaded her husband to donate seven paintings and a sculpture by Rodin to the gallery.

The gallery's collection includes works by Auguste Rodin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Herbert Ward and Henry Moore, as well as works by South African artists - Gerard Secoto, Walter Battiss, Alexis Pr. , Maud Sumner, Sydney Kumalo and others.

The Johannesburg Art Gallery opened to the public in 1910 on the grounds of the University of the Witwatersrand. The architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, invited by Lady Phillips, came to South Africa in 1910 to explore the area and begin construction on the gallery building. But the construction was not completed according to the architect's sketches. Five years after the beginning of construction work, the building opened its doors to the public without ceremony, immediately after the outbreak of the First World War.

In the late 1940s, the gallery building was expanded in accordance with the design of the architect Lachens - the western and the east wing of the building. The north wing of the gallery with its modern facade was built during the last renovation of the building in 1986-1987.

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Topic: Art Gallery of Johannesburg (Johannesburg Art Gallery) description and photos - South Africa: Johannesburg.