Among the paintings in the permanent collection is a portrait of an unknown young woman by Frans Hals.

[7] In 2013, the gallery acquired a fourteenth-century painting by Pietro Lorenzetti, depicting Christ Between Saints Paul and Peter.

[8] In May 2015, it was announced that the gallery would get a £4.5 million makeover to enable it to host the Turner Prize in 2017 as part of the UK City of Culture programme.

[10][11] On 8 February 2017, Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visited the gallery to view the completed refurbishment.

[12] In January 2018, Hull City Council announced that a record 519,000 visits were made to the gallery during 2017.