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, the unemployed and the mischievous, to whom artistic appreciation is an abstract concept. This environment has become less welcoming to some art lovers. [Note: Since the urban upgrading of the inner city and the running of Rea Vaya buses on the CBD circular route passed JAG, however, the surrounding environment is on the up. Editor: 2010]