What it is
The gallery opened in 1888 in a building it originally shared with the city library, on the corner of Kitchener and Wellesley Streets. After a major redevelopment it reopened in 2011 with new wings whose tree-like canopies of kauri timber echo the trees of neighbouring Albert Park; the project was named World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival in 2013.
The collection numbers more than 15,000 works, from European old masters to contemporary New Zealand and Pacific art. It is especially known for its 19th-century portraits of Māori by Charles Goldie and Gottfried Lindauer and for works by Colin McCahon and Frances Hodgkins.
Getting there by bus
The Auckland Art Gallery stop (stop 7088), about 120 metres from the entrance on Wellesley Street East, is served by routes 75, 101 and the Outer Link (OUT). A little further along, AUT City Campus (stop 7089) adds routes 25B, 25L and NX2, and the CityLink (CTY) stops at Wellesley Street (stop 7054).
On the other side of Queen Street, The Civic (stop 7055) has routes 30, 252, 253, 295 and 309, and Stop D Te Waihorotiu Station (stop 7021), about 200 metres away, is served by routes 22N, 22R, 24B, 24R, 75, 101 and OUT.
