As the State Gallery for Queensland, the Queensland Art Gallery develops and displays the State's art collection, presents visual art exhibitions and programs for the people of Queensland and visitors from interstate and overseas. Half a million people visit the Gallery annually.

Established in 1895 and situated within the Queensland Cultural Centre on the South Bank of the Brisbane River since 1982, the Gallery receives national and international acclaim not only for its collections, exhibitions and other programs, but for its dramatic, ambient yet flexible architectural design. Winner of several architectural awards, the design features of the Gallery include gallery spaces ranging from the intimate to the monumental, soaring sky-lit ceilings and magnificent Water Mall running throughout to the Sculpture Courtyard.

The permanent collection of around 10,000 works, encompasses paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, installations, video and decorative arts. Australian art is a major strength of the collection, with its broad representation of significant late nineteenth and twentieth century art, particularly contemporary art. Strong holdings of late twentieth century Indigenous Australian art are also featured.

The international collection includes Western art from the fifteenth century, including several acknowledged masterpieces; Asian art from the twelfth century; and late twentieth century Asia-Pacific art. Picasso's internationally acclaimed masterpiece, 'La Belle Hollandaise', is the highlight of a small focus group of French impressionists and modern works gifted to the Gallery in 1959 by Major Harold de Vahl Rubin. Two important and unique Asian focus collections are the Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art, and the collection of Six Old Kilns of Japan, which is on permanent display. Selections from the holdings of ukiyo-e prints are also displayed in the magnificent and meditative surroundings of the Asian Art Gallery which also features an internal and external Asian rock garden.