The country's finest collection of contemporary art hangs here as well as paintings of New Zealand dating from the time of Captain Cook. The châteaulike main gallery, built in the 1880s, holds many of the historic paintings, whereas the New Gallery across the street shows temporary exhibitions. The Mackelvie Gallery on the ground floor of the main gallery gives some insight into how early European settlers saw New Zealand. Portraits of Maori chiefs by C. F. Goldie and Gottfried Lindauer give splendid character studies of a fiercely martial people. Goldie used sitters introduced to him by friends, often using the same sitters repeatedly -- odd, considering he aimed to document what he considered a dying race. Keep an eye out for The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand, which Goldie painted with his teacher, Louis John Steele, basing the work on Theodore Géricault's Raft of the Medusa. The painting is full of inaccuracies -- the figures are not like Maori and they're in a type of waka (war canoe) not built until they settled in New Zealand -- but it was a hit at the time and launched Goldie's career. The Grey Gallery, also in the main building, rotates New Zealand art from the 1950s to the present, including works by Frances Hodgkins, the country's best-known artist, and Colin McCahon. Note that the main gallery will close in late 2006 for redevelopment, expected to take around two years. Its collection will be shown in the New Gallery and satellite venues.