Artists
Browse over a thousand highlighted artists from the collection.
In Focus | The Storm by William McTaggart
Questions about art
In this new series of films we'll explore some frequent musings about art - using questions asked by our audiences. What makes a painting iconic? Why aren't there more female artists? Why can’t I touch artworks when I'm in a gallery?
The ten most expensive paintings in history were painted by men. And of the $196 billion spent on art at auction in the last decade, women accounted for only 2% of sales. So why are so few female artists represented in the world of art?
If you’ve ever seen a painting behind glass, or a barrier in front of a sculpture, you might have wondered, ‘why can’t I touch that?’ So why can’t you touch art? And as the world of art constantly evolves, is this changing?
Inspiring collections
New acquistions
This collection presents some of the works acquired in recent years, including painting, works on paper and photography.
Scottish art
In this collection, you can explore a selection of highlights from our collection of Scottish art.
Highlights
The National Galleries of Scotland has over 96,000 objects in its collection. We have selected just a few of these for you to enjoy.
MacKinnon Collection
This unique collection of Scottish photography represents Scottish life and identity from the 1840s through the 1940s – a century of dramatic transformation and innovation.
From our archive
Every Thursday, we dip in to our archive to uncover an extraordinary art treasure.
Toyen
A look at astonishing works by Marie Čermínová (1902-1980), more famously known as Toyen.
La Dame Ovale
A look at a livre d’artiste written by the Surrealist painter, poet and author Leonora Carrington, and illustrated by Max Ernst.
Surrealist Argentinian playing cards
A deck of playing cards crafted by the Argentinian painter, designer, illustrator and author, Leonor Fini.
Artist book of proverbs
We take a look at a fascinating artist book of proverbs from around the world by Linda K. Johnson.