The Art Gallery of NSW has painted a rosy picture of rising visitor numbers, more art acquisitions and a boost in revenue in its latest annual report. However, the gallery's results in 2014-15 across some areas still lags behind its performance under previous director Edmund Capon.

The state's premier gallery received 1.3 million visitors in 2014-15 – an increase from the low 1.16 million visitors recorded in each of the previous two financial years.

However, the gallery's attendance figure includes 98,220 people who visited the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane to attend an exhibition organised by the AGNSW, and 115,000 visitors who attended regional touring exhibitions.

Attendances in 2014-15 were lower than the high point in 2011-12, when 1.44 million people visited the gallery.

The figures were presented in the gallery's annual report, which was tabled in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday.

However, the gallery is upbeat about the future. "A popular exhibition program this year will no doubt increase visitor numbers to the gallery and therefore revenue in 2015-16," the report said.

In particular, it predicts a rise in commercial revenue from the hiring out of the gallery for more functions and events, catering and shop sales.

The value of artworks donated to the gallery in 2014-15 was $4.2 million, compared to $11.5 million in 2010-11.

However, the gallery's spending on art acquisitions increased to $8.8 million – perhaps in the expectation that it will have more wall space to fill if the $450 million Sydney Modern building project is completed.

More sobering, the Sydney-based gallery also had 1 million fewer visitors than the National Gallery of Victoria, which reported attendances of 2.3 million people in 2014-15.

The gallery's total revenue from exhibitions and visitor services jumped $10 million to $34 million last financial year, yet that is still less than the $40 million earned four years ago.

In particular, the gallery earned half as much from exhibition ticket sales in 2014-15 as it did four years ago. The $3.3 million in merchandise and book sales is also lower than the $4.8 million recorded in 2010-11.

On a brighter note, bequests bounced back strongly to $12 million after falling to $4.6 million in 2013-14.

Taxpayers also spent more money on the gallery, with government grants rising more than $2 million to $33.8 million last financial year.

However, the government will cut funding next year, with the gallery euphemistically warning it will "rationalise expenditure".

Gallery director Michael Brand was paid $430,000, according to the annual report, which is about twice as much as his predecessor Edmund Capon was paid.

Brand spent more than six weeks travelling to the United States, Japan, south-east Asia and Europe for meetings and in pursuit of the Sydney Modern building project, the annual report reveals.

The number of curatorial positions also continued to decline from 52 in 2012-13 to 43 in 2014-15, despite an increase in the number of fulltime staff.

"Curatorial staff numbers fluctuate given we have some curatorial staff on temporary contacts, working on specific projects or exhibitions," gallery spokeswoman Simone Bird says. "There was no reduction in permanent curatorial positions."

The gallery was also given another $4 million of public money for its Sydney Modern building project in this year's state budget, and is preparing a business case to ask for hundreds of millions of dollars to help pay for the new wing.

The gallery faces other challenges including finding a new president of its board of trustees to replace Guido Belgiorno-Nettis and renegotiating its relationship with the Art Gallery Society, whose 30,000-odd members support the gallery.

The state's other major institutions also tabled annual reports on Wednesday, with the Sydney Opera House reporting a rise in people attending shows to 1.45 million people and a 51 per cent increase in philanthropy to $1.78 million.

But total revenue declined by 3.5 per cent to $110 million and an operating profit declined from $7.7 million in 2013-14 to $1 million last financial year.