Initially, the gallery was located on the first floor of a five-story residential building on Sverdlov Street. Since 1982, the museum has been housed in the building of the former Sibrevkom. Part of this building, constructed in 1926 by architect A. D. Kryachkov, is a monument of architecture of republican significance. An annex was added to it in 1948. Before the Picture Gallery was established here, the building housed the regional and city committees of the CPSU.

In addition to the Novosibirsk Art Museum, the building also hosts the Wax Figure Museum, the Novosibirsk Toy Museum, and the Puppet Theater.

The core of the museum's collection consists of exhibits transferred in the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Ministries of Culture of the RSFSR and the USSR, the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Pavlovsk Palace Museum, the Perm Picture Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Hermitage, and other museums in Russia. The first private donors to the museum were P. E. Kornilov and V. M. Pivkin. In the 1960s and 1980s, the museum actively formed its collections.

The museum features icons from the 16th and 20th centuries of the Moscow school, Stroganov style, Volga region, Ukraine, Ural, and Siberia.

Particular interest lies in the folk icons collected during expeditions in the Novosibirsk region. The collection comprises over 500 items and was formed from icons transferred by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and acquired from private individuals.

The portrait genre of the 18th century is represented, in particular, by the allegorical painting by D. G. Levitsky "Catherine II, Lawgiver in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice," an author's repetition of the famous canvas from the Russian Museum.

Among the works of another outstanding 18th-century artist V. L. Borovikovsky is "Portrait of Prince A. B. Kurakin," a shortened version of the ceremonial portrait from the State Tretyakov Gallery. An example of the historical genre at the Academy of Arts is V. Y. Rodchev's painting "Apollo Commanding the Satyrs to Bind Marsyas to a Tree." Among the works of the first half of the 19th century are V. A. Tropinin's "Portrait of Prince A. S. Dolgorukov," "Portrait of an Unknown Man," as well as "Apostle Paul" by K. Bryullov, created for the now non-existent Lutheran Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg. Salon portrait art of the mid-19th century is represented by the canvases of S. K. Zaryanko and I. K. Makarov. The maritime theme is reflected in I. K. Aivazovsky's painting "Ships at the Feodosia Raid," while Italian motifs are found in the landscapes of M. N. Vorobyov and L. F. Lagorio.

The academic direction is represented by the works of A. I. Ivanov, A. G. Varnek, and K. P. Bryullov, as well as works by rare masters.

The section of the second half of the 19th century includes works by V. V. Pukirev, N. N. Ge, V. G. Perov, as well as landscapes by I. I. Yendogurov and Yu. Yu. Klever.

The work of the Wanderers is represented by the works of I. M. Pryanishnikov, V. M. Vasnetsov, I. I. Shishkin, A. K. Savrasov, F. A. Vasilyev, A. I. Kuindzhi, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, V. E. Makovsky, I. I. Levitan, V. D. Polenov, and G. G. Myasoedov.

The museum also features works by masters of the "Union of Russian Artists," such as S. Yu. Zhukovsky, L. V. Turzhansky, P. I. Petrovichev, A. E. Arkhipov, and A. A. Rylov. The group "Bubnovy Valet" is represented by paintings by P. P. Konchalovsky and R. R. Falk. The association "World of Art" includes works by K. A. Korovin, A. Ya. Golovin, A. N. Benois, and E. E. Lansere. The collection of works by Z. E. Serebryakova and expressionism in Russian art, represented by B. D. Grigoriev, also attract interest.

A special section consists of 60 works by N. K. Rerikh, created in the last years of his life and transferred to the museum in 1957. Special attention is drawn to the landscapes from the series "Himalayas."

The Soviet period of Russian painting is represented by works of I. I. Mashkov, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, K. N. Redko, A. V. Shevchenko, K. F. Yuon, A. V. Kuprin, P. D. Korin, and other artists.

The end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries are represented by works of artists from the Moscow and St. Petersburg schools, as well as masters from Siberia and Novosibirsk, such as Nikolai Rybakov, E. Dybskiy, M. Kantor, and others.

The collection of foreign art includes a small collection of paintings, a collection of engravings, and individual exhibits of sculpture and decorative applied art. Foreign painting is represented by works of European masters of the 16th and 19th centuries, among which Flemish, Dutch, and French artists stand out.

The graphic section mainly includes reproductive engravings by French, Italian, and English artists of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as individual original sheets by N.-T. Charle and P. Gavarni.

Contemporary foreign art is represented by works of Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Australian artists.

In Novosibirsk, the International Biennale of Contemporary Graphics is held every two years, enriching the cultural life of the region and demonstrating the modern development of graphic arts.

The museum regularly conducts tours, lectures, and competitions. The NGHM actively engages in scientific research, holds conferences, seminars, and round tables. Its publishing activities include publications about the museum's collection, collections of articles and conference proceedings, publications about the work of artists whose works are stored in the museum, as well as books and albums on the history of the creation and development of the NGHM.