The Art Gallery of Hamilton holds the third-largest permanent collection of any public gallery in Ontario, with strengths in 19th-century European academic painting (the Tanenbaum Collection), Canadian historical art, and contemporary work from the Hamilton region. The building, opened in 2005, replaced an earlier brutalist structure and is one of Hamilton's most distinctive pieces of modern architecture.
The Canadian galleries cover the Group of Seven, Cornelius Krieghoff, William Kurelek, and contemporary Indigenous artists. The cafe in the atrium and a small shop with reasonable books on Canadian art round out the visit. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Free admission on the first Friday evening of each month.