Australian Galleries was founded in Melbourne by Tam and Anne Purves in June 1956. Originally a pattern manufacturing business in the working-class suburb of Collingwood, it supplied patterns to the thriving local fashion industry. The Purves' transformed the space into a pioneering commercial art gallery, providing a platform for post-war Australian artists who lacked opportunities to exhibit and sell their work. Early exhibitors included iconic painters like Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, and Albert Tucker.

Anne and Tam Purves were trailblazers in professionally exhibiting and marketing contemporary art in Australia. From its inception, their gallery gained a reputation for representing leading Australian artists, including John Brack, Justin O’Brien, and Fred Williams, alongside the previously mentioned icons. In 1966, their youngest child, Stuart Purves, joined the gallery. Following Tam's untimely death in 1969, Stuart and Anne co-directed the gallery until her passing in 1999.

The 1970s marked the arrival of additional renowned artists at Australian Galleries, including Jeffrey Smart, John Olsen, Tim Storrier, and Brett Whiteley. By this time, the gallery had solidified its position as the most prestigious institution in the Australian art world, admired by artists and collectors alike. This period and into the 80s (before the crash of ’89) was the pinnacle of art appreciation and collecting in Australia.

Throughout the 1980s, Australian Galleries continued to expand its roster, welcoming notable artists such as Brian Dunlop and Leon Morocco. It also established long-standing relationships with artists who continue to exhibit regularly, including Raymond Arnold, Rodney Forbes, and Inge King. In 1988 Australian Galleries was delighted to exhibit in the first ever Melbourne Art Fair, with a group show of its expanding list of notable artists.

In 1989, Stuart and Anne expanded Australian Galleries to New South Wales, opening a new location in Paddington, Sydney, while maintaining the original gallery in Collingwood, Melbourne. The move proved successful, broadening their audience, client base, and connections with New South Wales artists. Unbeknown to Stuart and Anne, both suburbs were to become celebrated art’s precincts within 10 years. Anne stayed in Melbourne to manage the original gallery, while Stuart traveled to Sydney fortnightly to support artists on a national scale. Anne Purves passed away in 1999.

Under Stuart Purves' sole directorship, Australian Gallerie, supported by 18 staff, continued representing leading contemporary Australian artists such as Inge King, William Robinson, Garry Shead, Tim Storrier, and John Wolseley, while managing major estates including Jeffrey Smart, George Baldessin, Colin Lanceley, and Lenton Parr. Works on paper galleries opened in Melbourne (50 Smith Street, Collingwood) and Sydney (24 Glenmore Road, Paddington). Stuart also created an in-house graphic design team and implemented a custom IT database, still used for sales, administration, and curatorial reference. In 2006, he was awarded the AM for his contributions to the arts. Two years later, he opened the Australian Galleries Stock Rooms at 28 Derby Street, Collingwood.

In preparation for the 60th Anniversary in June 2016, renovations to the Melbourne Stock Rooms were undertaken to create ‘white cube’ spaces to accommodate an expanding exhibition program, a new print room which is home to the work of our master printmakers, and a second level was added to create a vast stock room to display new works from artist’s studio’s, and to house the Archives Department.

The 2020s have seen Australian Galleries showcase the works of significant artists, Mary Tonkin, Graeme Drendel, John Wolseley and Greg Weight with solo exhibitions at Art Fairs in Sydney and Melbourne. In 2024 Australian Galleries expanded their Sydney presence with a dedicated Stock Room directly opposite the exhibiting gallery in Paddington, mirroring the successful setup in Melbourne. As Australian Galleries heads towards its 70th year it continues to thrive as a family business with Stuart at the helm supported by his sister Caroline running the Archives Department, and his daughters Tamsin and Victoria as the Managing Director and Website Manager respectively.