Founded in 1880, the current edifice that houses the National Gallery of Canada opened in 1988. It was designed by Moshe Safdie as a contemporary and postmodern take on the architecture of Canada’s Parliament buildings, which it strategically faces across the Rideau Canal. I think this is quite apt because any art gallery that calls itself a “national” one should look and feel the part. Thankfully, our National Gallery of Canada does just that. It is grand in scale, but – and almost contradictorily – understated in its presentation of the artworks, modern and classical, inside. True to form, the National Gallery gives nearly equal weight to traditional heavyweights – the Group of Seven and Emily Carr, for example – and emerging voices, including from our diverse Indigenous and multicultural communities. It’s a beautiful thing and one could easily spend hours ambling about this space and learning about this place. The National Gallery of Canada represented the second major stop during our all too brief visit to Ottawa. All told, we spent about three hours here and could’ve easily spent longer, but time was of the essence. While I enjoyed looking at the works of Carr and Group of Seven, the Indigenous artworks – and especially those by the Inuit – really captured my attention. The amount of detail carved into bone and tusk was nothing short of amazing. I also enjoyed a rather large installation called “Non Orientable,” which used scrap materials to comment upon capitalism and commodity. In some ways it reminded me of works by Douglas Coupland (I know this was not his). In any event, when it’s all said and done, the National Gallery of Canada succeeds in one of its primary goals; that is to say, it does an exceptional job of walking us through the nation’s history and its ever-expanding cultural development. In short, the gallery is a physical manifestation of our beautiful mosaic. Oh! And while you’re outside the gallery, be sure to spend a few moments admiring Maman – the giant spider (see my earlier review on this site). At a micro level, Maman is a protector of the National Gallery; at a macro level, it comments upon our country as a symbol for shelter and home. Now we’re getting deep . . . ;)

Bring your walking shoes! There is so much to see! I was surprised by the sheer size of the building and number of displays I could have easily spent the day, and returned again, but we were subject to a timeframe. When you go, be sure not to miss the chapel- the sound is amazing. Definitely wish I was closer so I could make this a regular part of my week

Spontaneously decided to walk here from Parliament Hill, and definitely spent a good two hours here browsing the art. If your resident artist enthusiast can creep past the front sculpture, you are in for a treat. The architecture caught my eye and did not leave me disappointed. The interior structure is well-lit and allows for plenty of ambient light. The inside garden court and the second floor's sitting area is a nice reprieve, though there was not a lot of room to rest in the garden court. This is ADA-accessible with elevators and an entrance ramp. Art enthusiasts need to allocate their time wisely to peruse the hundreds (if not thousands) of pieces of art. During my visit, I primarily saw paintings of different times with few sculptures of various styles. Personally, I am not an art enthusiast, but there were small pieces that captured my attention. My favorite part of the exhibit was the Kan Azuma exhibit and nods to Indigenous pieces.

2024: now, we are able to visit. Pretty neat and organized. Has a gift shop and up to date bathroom technology. Bathrooms are clean and smells good. Has a coat place, gift shop and restaurant. Entrance is CAD 20. Child & stroller friendly place. 2022: A spacious, elegant looking and looks informative place to go to. We just dont have the time to go in. The spider statue does not make sense and looks scary for the children

We thoroughly enjoyed the Gallery. Very impressive collection, with especially strong holdings of First Nations art (both historic and contemporary) and the Group of Seven, a great favorite of ours whose contributions should be more fully understood by those of us from the US. Superb group of Lawren Harris paintings and a lovely collection of David Milne, Emily Carr, Tom Thomson and much more. The cafe offers great window seating of the lawns and sculptures. If you want to visit the entire collection, count on several hours. (And parking is available on site!)

We spent 4 pleasant hours in this spacious modern art gallery looking at Canadian art as well as specimans of European art from several art periods. In early May, we easily bought tickets at the door. Cloak room has an attendent with no charge. We used their excellent map of the gallery, provided with the ticket, to guide us through the many spacious rooms on 2 levels. The first level had a very good collection of the Group of 7's landscape paintings of northern Ontario on the walls as well as quite a few of Emily Carr's from the Pacific Northwest. I also enjoyed seeing works by early Canadian painters like Paul Kane, Krieghoff. I would have thought there would have been more paintings than just one by the Nova Scotian artist, Alex Colville, on display. There were many more paintings by other Canadian artists as well as works by Indigenous artists on Level 1. Level 2 had the European and Contemporary paintings. I enjoyed seeing a representative painting from famous Renaissance and Impressionist artists. Some of the rooms also had sculptures. Benches were available in the middle of some of the rooms. Both levels had the same floor space with views into a small courtyard planted with ferns and another featuring a water fountain. It was strange to hear church choral music in these courtyards, but upon investigating the source of the music I came upon a make-up interior of a cathedral with 45 audiospeakers where visitors could hear the special parts of the music being played. The gift shop was excellent to browse through with many lovely things on display including art books, pottery, and fabric pieces. The cafe, overlooking the Champlain statue pointing towards the Ottawa River, offers grilled foods like grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers as well as cold sandwiches and salads ($10), soup, drinks and sweets. Another spacious sunny area on Level 1 - the Great Hall - offers seating for large groups who may have brought their lunches with them. Near the gift shop is a coffee shop with sweets and wraps. Outside is the Tavern, a most pleasant area offering pizza. The art gallery is close to other attractions in Ottawa. On our way to the art Gallery, we particularly enjoyed our stroll through Major Hill Park with its beautiful tulip beds in bloom in early May and, later, a stroll around Parliament Hill looking at the PM statues, followed by a cruise boat ride on the Rideau canal.

This is a must see, but give yourself plenty of time. The building itself is special. But the art and the spaciousness, design and flow of the galleries is wonderful. We could have spent many more hours in the Indigenous and Canadian sections alone. Getting to see exceptional piece, after exceptional piece in such a lovely space was a treat. Loved it

This is a beautiful and well thought out gallery from the exhibits to the design of the gallery itself. Every step you take leads you intentionally from one beautiful space to the next. The color choices used to display the art and the grandeur was delightfully impressive. I especially loved the large and vibrant collection of indigenous art, so bold and touching. Of course the giant egg-carrying arachnid cast in bronze out front is a sight of its own, curiously beautiful.

A return to Ottawa requires a return to this place: - we booked our tickets in advance and arrived here as soon as the opened mid week, meaning the place was rather empty, lucky us - we are always interested in seeing the European masters around the world, so started with this and yes, they have a good selection including some Klimt which is a temporary hence not allowed to take pics but you have the usual French, British, Italian and Dutch masters - lots of Canadian artists and some not very well known artists, way better than some masters - also a very beautiful building with lots of seating area in the inner courtyard - located near Canadian mint and free entry Notre Dame cathedral, plus nearby Byward market with lots of amazing restaurant and Gatineau centre as you walk south (Farm Boy is on the lower ground)

Amazing collection! I can't wait to go back, because we wanted to see everything, so we can be more focused the next time. All collections tell a story, the curators did a great job. The wife here prefers the European pieces, I like the more modern Canadian ones. The chapel is definitely worth visiting, and I loved the fountain.