Venkatappa Art Gallery- History, Timings and How to Reach- Holidify

Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore Overview

Located in the premises of Karnataka Government Museum, Venkatappa Art Gallery situated on Kasturba Road, Cubbon Park flaunts over 600 paintings. Named after the most famous artist of Bangalore city - K. Venkatappa, the gallery houses resplendent works of the namesake painter and other renowned artists as well. Sprawling over a vast area, the two-storeyed museum is further divided in different galleries some of which display antiques from the Indus Valley Civilization, paintings from the Hoysala, Gandhara and Nolamba periods, exquisite wood carvings, phenomenally carved sculptures, specimens of geology and art, ancient musical instruments and the like. Some of the rare artworks displayed are dated back to 2000 BC.

Venkatappa Art Gallery is an insight into the glorious past with its umpteen exhibits and displays. The first floor of the museum houses incredible works of Venkatappa himself which include the very famous painting of the Ooty sunrise, the dazzling Nilgiri hills, a scenic Church Hill view etc. Other artists featured along with him are M. F. Hussain, Vasudev, Hariram, Rekha Rao, Yusuf Arakkal and N.S. Bendre. The second floor is solely dedicated to the paintings of K. K. Hebbar. The rich collection showcased in the gallery attracts not just art and history buffs but people from all over India day in and day out.

History of Venkatappa Art Gallery

With the objective to showcase paintings, sculptures and stucco works of the very famous artist K. Venkatappa, the government of India came up with the idea of a museum cum art gallery. The foundation being laid on 24th of November, 1967; the construction of the building got very delayed. Several artists protested for the gallery to be completed by 1971, some of which were G.S Shenoy, Bhaskar Rao, Ramesh Rao, Acharya and Punam Chattaya. Finally, the building got completed in 1975 and was ready for public display.

With the motive to house both the museum and the art in a gallery in one, the aim was to have five floors but unfortunately, the construction stopped at three floors. It was later renovated and made fully air-conditioned. The gallery now boasts of famous works by Venkatappa and other contemporary artists. The K. K. Hebbar section on the second floor was added in 1993-94, and the entire place was again remodelled in 2004- 2005.

How To Reach Venkatappa Art Gallery

The art gallery is located in the heart of the city on Kasthurba Road, Cubbon Park. You can choose to take the metro and get down at the nearest Cubbon Park metro station on the purple line. The art gallery is hardly 1 km away from the station; you can either walk down or take a local rickshaw. It can also easily be reached through booking a private taxi- cab. Alternatively, you can choose to travel in one of the public buses. The buses running on the route are 150, 154, 155, 291, 293 & 294C.