Art Gallery is located in the park Joubert, a few blocks from the main train station in Johannesburg. The building was designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lachensom and consists of 15 exhibition halls, as well as several exhibition areas in the open air to large sculptures. His archive is a collection of British and Dutch painting of XVIII-XIX centuries, a collection of European paintings of the XIX century, as well as a large collection of contemporary works of South African and international artists.

Collector Dorothea Sarah Alexander Florence Phillips, wife of mining magnate Lionel Phillips formed the first collection of the gallery at the expense of the funds contributed by her husband. After moving to Johannesburg, she began to take pictures with the aim of creating an art gallery, which later became the Johannesburg Art Gallery. It acquired a collection of paintings by the British artist and collector Sir Hugh Lane, exhibited in London in 1910. Lady Phillips donated his collection of lace and persuaded her husband to convey to the seven gallery of paintings and sculptures by Rodin.

The collection of the gallery includes works by Auguste Rodin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Herbert Ward and Henry Moore, as well as the work of South African artists - Gerard Sekot Walter Battissa, Alexis Preller, Maud Sumner, Sydney Kumalo and others.

Johannesburg Art Gallery was opened to the public in 1910 on the campus of the University of the Witwatersrand. The architect, Sir Edwin Lachens invited Lady Phillips, came to South Africa in 1910 to explore the area and begin construction of the building of the gallery. But the building was not completed according to the sketches of the architect. Five years later, with the start of construction, the building opened its doors to the public without ceremony, just after the First World War.

At the end of the 1940s, the gallery building was extended in accordance with the design of the architect Lachensa - built west and the east wing of the building. The north wing of the gallery with a modern façade was built during the last renovation of the building in the year 1986-1987.