In keeping with Pietermaritzburg’s self-styled role as a heritage city, one of its finest sights, the art gallery, was started in 1903 by Mrs Ada Tatham. Housed in the beautiful Old Supreme Court, it contains a fine collection of French and English 19th- and early-20th-century works.
The ground floor has abstract depictions of South Africa's people and street scenes. It's as if the country's history is either too painful or too complex to be shown through realism. Upstairs is more formal, with portraits and landscapes sharing the wall space along with sculptures and colourful displays of ceramics and lithographs.