Dr Andrew Watson, art historian and Associate Lecturer with the Open University, will discuss how the Edinburgh merchant, Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce (1846-99), became one of the most importany and influential Scottish art collectors of his generation. His collection included old masters, British and 19th-century American and European works. Bruce was a discerning collector of Corot, Daubigny, Jacob and Matthijs Maris and Rodin, and was a patron of the poet William Ernest Henley and the renowned Scottish stained-glass designer William Cottier. One of Bruce's major achievements was the leading role he played in the organisation of the French and Dutch Loan Collection of paintings for the Edinburgh International Exhibition in 1886, Scotland's first World Fair.

Getting here

The Scottish National Gallery can be found just off Princes Street in the city centre.