The Fine Arts Annexe, 1880–84
The Gallery’s first dedicated building is constructed in 1879 as part of the Sydney International Exhibition. Situated in the Botanic Garden, ‘The Fine Arts Annexe’, as it is known, consists of three long galleries designed by architect William Wardell. Image: Official Record of the International Exhibition.
In 1879, Sydney hosted a world exposition of art and industries. An enormous Garden Palace was constructed in the current Botanic Garden for the exhibition, designed by colonial architect James Barnet. Initially it was intended to include fine arts in one section of the Palace, but the fine arts commissioners, all founding members of the New South Wales Academy of Art, thought the building unsuitable. They convinced the exhibition organisers to build a separate Fine Arts Annexe.
This was erected not far from the Woolloomooloo entrance to the Botanic Garden. It was designed by church architect William Wardell. The simple structure of steel and wood, with a central nave and two side aisles, had an ecclesiastical flavour to it. It was half an acre in size and divided into nine galleries. It opened to the public on 10 November 1879, almost two months after the official opening of the Sydney International Exhibition.
When the exhibition closed, the government gave the building to the New South Wales Academy of Art and on 22 September 1880, the governor officially declared the refurbished building the ‘Art Gallery of New South Wales’. In 1883 its name was changed to the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, a title the Gallery retained until 1958.