[note 1] South African works included pieces by Henk Pierneef, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Irma Stern.

After the death of the sculptor Lucas Sithole 1994, half of his unfinished work by Haenggi Foundation was donated to the museum after documented by art historian Elza Miles.

Building began on 26 January 1962 and the cornerstone was laid on 19 October 1962 by the then Prime Minister Dr HF Verwoerd and the mayor of Pretoria, Councillor E. Smith.

Additional exhibit space was created in 1975 with the creation of secretion of an open area between the entrance and the East Gallery.

It was constructed in 1988 and again in 1999 upgraded, in the latter case in preparation for the international exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: scientist, inventor, artist.