The main building of the National Art Gallery was designed in 1968 and built in 1980 by architects Gediminas Baravykas and Vytautas Vielius.
The Museum of the Revolution of the Lithuanian SSR was located here from 1980 to 1991.
In 1991, the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture and Education handed over the building and its grounds to the Lithuanian Art Museum.
In 1993, the National Art Gallery, a subdivision of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, was opened in the building. It housed permanent exhibitions of Lithuanian folk art and works donated by the sculptor Vytautas Kašuba (1915-1997).
In 1999, the building was closed due to its poor technical condition.
In 2002, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the concept of the
NDG, prepared by the LDM.
In 2003, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the
Lithuanian Millennium Programme, which included the reconstruction of the NDG and its extension. In 2003, the Lithuanian Academy of Culture and the Lithuanian Architects' Union organised a competition for an architectural idea for the reconstruction of the NDG with its extension. Eight Lithuanian architects submitted projects to the competition. The project of architects Audrius Bučo, Darius Čaplinskas and Gintaras Kuginis, who won the first prize in the competition, was chosen for the reconstruction and extension of the Gallery. In 2005, the NDG was granted a grant of 30.1 million USD from the Japanese Cultural Support Programme. In 2009, the NDG opened its doors to visitors. It hosted one of the major projects of Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009 - the international exhibition "Dialogues of Colours and Sounds. The Works of M. K. Čiurlionis and his Contemporaries".
