Bendigo Art Gallery was founded in 1887. It is comprised of buildings constructed over four phases. The central building, now known as the Bolton Court, was constructed in 1867 by contractors Webb and Harlow to the design of the prominent Bendigo architectural firm Vahland and Getzschmann.

In the late 1880s Bendigo architect WC Valhand supervised the conversion of the former Bendigo Volunteer Rifle’s orderly room in View Street into a new home for the Gallery’s collection.The Art Gallery was founded in 1887.

Drury Court was added in 1897, then Abbott Court just eight years later following a plan devised by another leading local architect, William Beebe. These rooms were designed in the grand European tradition (notably the Tate Gallery, London) with polished wood floors, ornate plaster arches and cornices, and diffused natural sky-lighting through rooftop lantern towers.