IT is the biggest gallery in the sub-continent, with a collection larger than that of the South African National Art Gallery in Cape Town. This is the Johannesburg Art Gallery, home to some of the most prized works not just in the country but also in the world.

Here to Stay: Mixed media on paper by Moshekwa Langa
Courtesy of Johannesburg Art Gallery

"What sets us apart is the quality of our collection," says Rochelle Keene, chief curator of the gallery. "We have a trust fund which enables us to keep on collecting new works, further enhancing our already magnificent collection." Such is the size of the museum's collection that, Keene says, at any one time, only about 10% of the works are exhibited, with the rest being stored away. The museum has managed to procure these artefacts, thanks largely to a generous sponsorship from Anglo American and the City of Johannesburg.

The gallery was first established in 1910, operating from the premises of what is today's Wits University. The collection was subsequently moved to Joubert Park where it remains to this day. The building housing the museum was first designed by Edwin Lutyens, a renowned British architect, in 1911, but it was not until 1915 that construction on the site was completed under the supervision of Robert Howden, a South African architect. Side wings were added to the building some time in 1940. The building was further extended in 1986, when the north wing was upgraded and renovated.

Today, the gallery is a national monument housed in a three-storey building boasting 15 exhibition halls and some sculpture gardens on the grounds of Joubert Park. Its location in the park initially made the gallery easily accessible to the public. The park has over the past decade or so become more menacing than homely, attracting to its lawns, hordes of the unemployed and the mischievous, to whom artistic appreciation is an abstract, even alien concept. This environment has become less welcoming to some art lovers. However …

The entrance to the gallery ushers you into the Phillips Gallery, named after Florence Phillips, an art collector who established the first gallery collection using funds donated by her husband, Lionel Phillips, a mining magnate. The initial collection was put together by Sir Hugh Lane. The term avant-garde has been used, not without reason, to describe this original collection, which was exhibited in London in 1910, before being brought to South Africa. This foundation collection consists largely of 19th century and contemporary British and other European art.

Drawing from Stereoscope: Charcoal and pastel on paper by William Kentridge
Courtesy of Johannesburg Art Gallery

 The collection later expanded to include 17th century Dutch paintings and more contemporary South African and international arts. Some of the pre-eminent artists on the gallery's collection list are Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Edgar Degas.

The museum houses some of the most highly valued paintings, antiques, sculptures, drawings, prints and laceworks in the country. The comprehensive South African collection includes works by Gerard Sekoto, Alexis Preller, Maud Sumner, Sydney Kumalo, Ezrom Legae and others. In recent years, the gallery has made a concerted effort to procure art works by contemporary South African artists. Current works include traditional African pieces, such as jewellery items in the form of necklaces and bracelets made of beads. Works made of rock, wood, tyre, wire, cement, clay, ceramic and bronze and metal have over time been collected by the museum.

The gallery regularly hosts temporary displays of artefacts by particular artists or under some theme. Temporary displays take anything from a week to six months. Other works are put on permanent exhibitions lasting up to five years.

Visitors to the museum can buy crafts from the gallery shop. The Johannesburg Art Gallery is in Joubert Park, corner Klein and King George Streets. It can be contacted at (011) 725-3130.