A witness who was on a school trip at the gallery said staff and visitors were evacuated from the building.
They were allowed to return to the gallery around 10.45am.
Dr Zara Stanhope, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited director of Auckland Art Gallery, told the Herald the gallery “received a hoax threat this morning”.
“As a precaution, the gallery was evacuated while emergency services cleared the building. The gallery has now reopened and is operating as normal.”
It comes after two bomb threats in Auckland this week in educational facilities.
Staff and students at Kiwi College in Albany self-evacuated outside after an employee received an email with a bomb threat on Tuesday morning, with police attending and clearing the address.
The University of Auckland was also subject to a bomb scare on Wednesday, according to Stuff, with police determining the threat was not credible.