Art Gallery of South Australia. The Art Gallery of South Australia, established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide.
It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of almost 45,000 works of art, making it the second largest state art collection in Australia.
As part of North Terrace cultural precinct, the Gallery is flanked by the South Australian Museum to the west and the University of Adelaide to the east. As well as its permanent collection, which is especially renowned for its collection of Australian art, AGSA hosts the annual Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art known as Tarnanthi, displays a number of visiting exhibitions each year and also contributes travelling exhibitions to regional galleries.
European, Asian and North American art are also well represented in its collections. The South Australian Society of Arts, established in 1856 and oldest fine arts society still in existence, held Annual exhibitions in South Australian Institute rooms and advocated for a public art collection.
In 1880 Parliament gave E2,000 to the Institute to start acquiring a collection and the National Gallery of South Australia was established in June 1881. It was opened in two rooms of the public library, by Prince Albert Victor and Prince George. Most works on display were acquired through