The main aim of the National Galleries of Scotland’s press office is to achieve positive coverage for the Galleries' art collection, exhibitions and activities in the widest range of media. The press office team works with a range of press, broadcast media and public body contacts in pursuit of constructive and informed public debate about the National Galleries.

Larry Herman, *Jim Russell, one of the elected worker directors with the first copy of the first edition of the Scottish Daily News* (1974 - 1976; printed: 2015)

The press office is the first point of contact for journalists seeking information. As a result, the team are in regular contact with all departments so as to maintain a constant awareness of current events.

The department holds regular press views for new exhibitions, liaises with journalists to achieve favourable and sometimes exclusive coverage of exhibitions, events or people within the Galleries, commissions and works with film-makers for specific projects and publicises new acquisitions. The press office also provides press releases, images and interviews for exhibitions and events.

Press releases

28 November 2022

National Galleries of Scotland announce unmissable upcoming exhibitions in Edinburgh

A major Grayson Perry retrospective is announced today (28 November). The largest exhibition of Alberta Whittle’s career to date, a solo show by Do Ho Suh, and printmakers’ treasures are also among highlights of the National Galleries of Scotland’s new exhibitions programme.

Next summer, come and see the biggest ever exhibition of Grayson Perry’s work, covering his 40-year career. Perry has gone from taking pottery evening classes to winning the Turner Prize, presenting television programmes on Channel 4 and writing acclaimed books. Pottery allowed him the opportunity to indulge his fascination with sex, Punk, and counterculture, amongst other things, in the most unlikely and polite of art forms. Today he is one of Britain’s most celebrated artists and cultural figures.

Popular and provocative, Perry makes art that deals with difficult and complex ideas in an accessible and often funny way. He loves taking on big issues that are universally human: masculinity, sexuality, class, religion, politics and more. On view will be subversive pots, brilliantly intricate prints, elaborate sculptures, and huge, captivating tapestries – all imbued with Perry’s sharp wit and social commentary. Working with traditional mediums, Perry addresses the controversial issues of our times. We’ll reveal more information about the exhibition next spring. Running at the Royal Scottish Academy from 22 July until 12 November 2023, discover how and why he has become such a cultural icon.

Alberta Whittle: create dangerously is an immersive exhibition which invites you to slow down and pause. At the heart of Alberta’s solo show is her generous spirit which promotes compassion and collective care as means of resisting racism and anti-Blackness. Alberta addresses the brutality and harm caused by colonialism, the Transatlantic trade in enslaved people, and the ongoing climate crisis. Through richly symbolic artworks, she pulls apart the belief that ’racism and police brutality is [just] an English/Scottish problem or an American problem’. Instead, she underlines Scotland’s complicity in the structures of white supremacy. Often deeply personal, weaving stories of family and belonging, Alberta ultimately offers a message of hope, asking us to imagine a world outside of these damaging systems and ways of thinking.

This will be the largest showing of Alberta’s works to date, with sculptures, digital collages, watercolours and new paintings made especially for the show, taking over the ground floor of Modern One. Alongside never-before-seen artworks, the free exhibition offers you the opportunity to see Alberta’s extraordinary tapestry, Entanglement is more than blood, and film, Lagareh – The Last Born – which was on display at the Venice Biennale 2022, commissioned by Scotland+Venice. Alberta Whittle: create dangerously, running from 1 April 2023 until 7 January 2024, will explore the ambition and breadth of the Barbadian-Scottish artist’s career to date. Alberta Whittle: create dangerously is kindly supported by Baillie Gifford, National Galleries of Scotland Foundation and The Alberta Whittle Exhibition Supporters’ Circle.

A first for us and for Scotland: a solo exhibition coming winter 2023/24 of the South Korean-born, London-based Do Ho Suh. One of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Do Ho Suh will explore the foundational role that drawing and paper play in Suh’s artistic practice, focusing on his collaborative methods, experimental techniques, and innovative use of materials. The free exhibition, taking over an entire level of Modern One, will present the artist’s complex and compelling thread drawings – in which cotton thread is embedded on handmade paper – alongside architectural rubbings, paper sculptures, cyanotypes, printmaking and watercolours. There will also be a major new installation of Suh’s famed ‘hubs’, life-size sculptures that recreate physical spaces in colourful, translucent fabric. You can step right inside and immerse yourselves in this innovative reimagining of places meaningful to the artist and his life. Do Ho Suh is kindly supported by National Galleries of Scotland Foundation, and our associated engagement and audience development initiatives are kindly supported by Baillie Gifford.

Printmaking, one of the most accessible art forms, takes centre stage next Winter. Come and experience the print pioneers who have made their mark in the last five hundred years in Rembrandt to Rego: The Printmaker’s Art. You will go on a journey from Albrecht Dürer in the fifteenth century right through to contemporary artists including Tracey Emin and Chris Ofili. On the way you will discover how artists have pushed the boundaries in both subject and technique through screen printing, etching, engraving and more. The show includes many brilliant artists who are now famous for their printmaking; see prints by Andy Warhol, William Blake, Rembrandt, Francisco de Goya, Elizabeth Blackadder, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Pablo Picasso and more. Appreciate the techniques, tools and materials up close – you may even be inspired to give it a go. Rembrandt to Rego: The Printmaker’s Art runs from 2 December until 25 February 2024.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 marks a welcome return to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Capturing and sharing emotional, dramatic, or everyday moments in life is the magic of this exhibition. A truly global affair, the prize celebrates the very best in contemporary photography on an international scale. Sharing work by celebrated professionals and enthusiastic amateurs alike, the images selected for the exhibition share in their ability to move onlookers. This year’s prize-winning photographs examine a range of subjects – from queerness, transness and the concept of chosen family, socially distanced glimpses into daily lockdown life, to identity and life in former Soviet states. See several famous faces up close, including footballer and activist Marcus Rashford and Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. The variety of themes explored throughout the exhibition is matched by the high-quality, contemporary portraiture that reflects the shifting world of today. This free exhibition runs from 17 June until 10 September 2023.

Also at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Making Space: Photographs of Architecture will explore how architecture impacts our lives. As a record of human life past, present, and future, architecture and people are intrinsically linked. A poorly built environment exacerbates inequality, but architecture has the power to address social issues including homelessness, poverty, and displacement. This fascinating exhibition will also consider how the built environment has a significant role to play in creating a more sustainable future. On display will be a diverse range of photographic styles, formats and processes dating from the 1840s to the present day. Follow the line from Hill & Adamson’s early experiments on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill through to spectacular contemporary photographs by Andreas Gursky and Chris Leslie which capture the breath-taking scale of modern buildings. Entry to this exhibition is free and will take place from 7 October 2023 until 3 March 2024.

Your Art World, from summer 2023 to spring 2024, will help young people across Scotland to discover a whole new world of creative possibilities. This inclusive and interactive exhibition is free to see and includes work generated over the past year from a nation-wide call out to those aged between 3-18 years old. Your Art World’s goal is to inspire and empower young people to think and act creatively but there’s also the added bonus of having their artwork showcased. All submissions will be displayed both online and at the Scottish National Gallery. Your Art World is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The final programme highlight is the return of a keenly-awaited tradition: the opening of Turner in January, an exhibition of mesmerising watercolours to help us through the dark days of winter. Scotland’s famous collection of J.M.W. Turner watercolours was left to the nation by the great art collector Henry Vaughan in 1900. Since then, following Vaughan’s strict guidelines, they have only ever been displayed during the month of January, when natural light levels are at their lowest. Because of this, these watercolours still possess a freshness and an intensity of colour, almost 200 years since they were originally created. Presented at the Royal Scottish Academy, Turner in January will open on New Year’s Day 2023 and be open throughout the month of January. Turner in January is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Sir John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland said:

“There is so much to look forward to across our Galleries next year. From connecting with Grayson Perry’s craftsmanship up close to slowing down with Alberta Whittle to experience compassion and care, there is something for everyone to discover. Everyone is invited to our Galleries to learn, find a moment of calm, or feel inspired.”

Completing the exhibition programme are free displays currently at the Scottish National Gallery and Modern One respectively: Conserving Scotland’s Art until 16 April, which shines a light on how we preserve art for future generations to enjoy; Conversations with the Collection, offering a fresh way of presenting modern and contemporary art; and until 12 February, New Arrivals: From Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville, a fascinating showcase of our latest modern and contemporary acquisitions.

8 September 2022
Her Majesty The Queen, 1926–2022

We join the nation in expressing our sorrow at the death of Her Majesty The Queen and we send our deepest condolences to The Royal Family. 

"A much admired and respected figure at home and internationally, The Queen ruled for longer than any other monarch in British history. She dedicated a lifetime of service to her role, which included supporting many hundreds of charities and voluntary organisations. She will also be remembered by those who were closest to her, as a wife, a mother and grandmother."  Benny Higgins, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, National Galleries of Scotland  

Scotland played a special part in The Queen’s life. We were pleased to welcome her to our Galleries on many occasions during her reign. Her first visit as Monarch was back in in 1956 when she came to the Scottish National Gallery with HRH Prince Philip, a moment you can experience in the archive film shared on our social channels. 

We are proud to hold in Scotland’s national collection many works depicting The Queen, and we will soon put one of these on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.  

Our flags will fly at half-mast today as a mark of respect, and we will open books of condolence at each of our Galleries to allow our visitors to share their thoughts. Our galleries will close on the day of the funeral.

23 August 2022
Second public consultation opens on National Galleries of Scotland’s plans for major new facility in North Edinburgh

Ambitious plans by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) to construct an important new building in Granton, North Edinburgh are gathering pace. The facility titled The Art Works will house Scotland’s extraordinary national art collection and make a major contribution to benefit and enhance the local community for the long term. A second public consultation on the proposals is now under way. It takes account of feedback received during a pre-planning consultation held in June 2022. The plans have been developed to acknowledge and respond where to community feedback on preferred routes for paths; to make the entrance area more open for multipurpose activities, and to improve access and storage for bicycles.

Members of the public are invited to share their views on the latest proposals by 16 September 2022, ahead of a full planning application being submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council in Autumn/Winter 2022.

The Art Works is being designed with a unique dual purpose. Firstly, it will be a base for more than 100,000 works of art to be cared for, conserved and researched. Secondly, the building will be a key focal point for community investment, pride and growth.

Located on a site west of Madelvic House on Granton Park Avenue, within one of Scotland’s most diverse yet socioeconomically deprived areas, The Art Works will be fully accessible and open to all. The building will offer world-class visitor facilities, rooms for education and community programmes, and new outdoor public spaces. Each of these elements will be designed to meet the needs of and help realise the spirit and ambition of the local community. Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “I wish to thank everyone who took part in the pre-planning consultation event for The Art Works earlier this summer. Their feedback has been crucial in helping refine our proposals to future-proof our collection facilities and deliver on the needs of the communities in North Edinburgh. This new consultation offers further opportunities for people to engage and together help us deliver a truly transformative building that works for all.”

Previously known as the National Collection Facility, proposals for a building of this kind have been in the early stages of concept development since 2015. Now known as The Art Works, the project aims to bring Scotland’s vast and extraordinary national art collection into a single future-proofed location.

The Art Works will be instrumental in addressing each of these issues, enabling much greater access to and engagement with Scotland’s artistic treasures. The scope for touring the collection around Scotland and internationally will be greatly increased, meaning more people than ever before will be able to connect and engage with Scotland’s incredible artistic legacy.

As part of the Granton Waterfront project, which is adopting ambitious plans on low-carbon travel modes and energy-efficient new housing, The Art Works will play an important role in Scotland’s green recovery as the country's largest building designed to the Passivhaus standard, which goes beyond the requirements for meeting Scotland’s 2030 carbon reduction targets.

People can find out more about the proposals at an event on Tuesday 23 August 2022 from 3pm-7pm at granton:hub on Granton Park Avenue. In addition, an online question and answer session with the project team is planned for Wednesday 24 August 2022 between 5pm - 7pm. Further information on the proposals, including a comment form, can be found on the NGS website at www.nationalgalleries.org/theartworks.

Comments should be made by 16 September, when the consultation will close.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Contact: [email protected]

Further information on the proposals can be found at www.nationalgalleries.org/theartworks

Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait discovered by National Galleries of Scotland

Free photography and film rushes can be downloaded via Dropbox.

Sensational find to go on display in Edinburgh this summer

The National Galleries of Scotland has discovered what is almost certainly a previously unknown self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh.

Believed to be a first for a UK institution, the mysterious image was revealed by an x-ray taken when art conservators examined Van Gogh’s Head of a Peasant Woman of 1885 ahead of the forthcoming exhibition A Taste for Impressionism (30 July–13 November) at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. Visitors will be able to see the amazing x-ray image for the first time through a specially crafted lightbox at the centre of the display.

Hidden from view for over a century, the self-portrait is on the back of the canvas with Head of a Peasant Woman and is covered by layers of glue and cardboard. NGS experts believe these materials were applied ahead of an exhibition in the early twentieth century. Van Gogh often re-used canvases to save money. However, instead of painting over earlier works, he would turn the canvas around and work on the reverse.

It may be possible to uncover the hidden self-portrait, but the process of removing the glue and cardboard will require delicate conservation work. Research is ongoing as to how that can be done without harming Head of a Peasant Woman.

Until then, the world can enjoy the tantalising discovery through a ghostly and utterly compelling x-ray image. It shows a bearded sitter in a brimmed hat with a neckerchief loosely tied at the throat. He fixes the viewer with an intense stare, the right side of his face in shadow and his left ear clearly visible.

Professor Frances Fowle, Senior Curator of French Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Moments like this are incredibly rare. We have discovered an unknown work by Vincent van Gogh, one of the most important and popular artists in the world. What an incredible gift for Scotland, and one that will forever be in the care of the National Galleries. We are very excited to share this thrilling discovery in our big summer exhibition A Taste for Impressionism, where the x-ray image of the self-portrait will be on view for all to see.”

The condition of the underlying self-portrait is not known but, if it can be uncovered, it is expected to help shed new light on this enigmatic and beguiling artist. Later in date than the Head of a Peasant Woman, the hidden painting is likely to have been made during a key moment in Van Gogh’s career, when he was exposed to the work of the French impressionists after moving to Paris. The experience had a profound effect and was a major influence on why he adopted a more colourful and expressive style of painting – one that is so much admired today.

Head of a Peasant Woman entered the NGS collection in 1960, as part of the gift of an Edinburgh lawyer, Alexander Maitland, in memory of his wife Rosalind. Dating from an early period in Van Gogh’s career, the painting shows a local woman from the town of Nuenen in the south of the Netherlands, where the artist lived from December 1883 to November 1885.

Painted in March or April 1885, it seems to be a likeness of Gordina de Groot who was a model for Van Gogh’s early masterpiece The Potato Eaters of 1885 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Her facial features, white cap and simple work clothes are sketched in oil, using broad brushstrokes and earthy colours typical of French realist artists such as Jean-François Millet, whom Van Gogh greatly admired.

In 1886 the artist moved to Paris to be closer to his brother Theo, who was an early supporter of the Impressionists. Exposed to the work of this revolutionary group of artists, Van Gogh lightened his palette and experimented with broken brushwork. At the studio of Fernand Cormon, where he took classes in painting, he met avant-garde artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Emile Bernard. He also encountered the work of Georges Seurat and Paul Gauguin, under whose influence he began to paint more expressively, using brighter colours.

In the summer of 1887 Van Gogh was experimenting with painting portraits, using friends and also himself as a model. Theo was out of town and unable to assist financially, so Van Gogh re-used canvases to save money. Van Gogh died in 1890 and his brother followed six months later, at which point the artist’s entire oeuvre was left to Theo’s widow, Jo Van Gogh-Bonger.

Probably around 1905, when the Peasant Woman was lent to an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the decision was made to stick the canvas down on cardboard prior to framing. At this date the Peasant Woman was evidently considered more ‘finished’ than the Van Gogh self-portrait. The painting changed hands several times and in 1923 was acquired by Evelyn St. Croix Fleming, whose son, Ian, became the creator of James Bond. It was not until 1951 that it came to Scotland, having entered the collection of Alexander and Rosalind Maitland.

Once revealed, the hidden self-portrait will be part of a group of several such self-portraits and other works painted on the back of earlier canvases from the Nuenen period. Five examples are in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Others in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut; and the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Records in the Van Gogh Museum confirm that in 1929 the cardboard was removed from three of their Nuenen pictures by the Dutch restorer Jan Cornelis Traas, revealing the portraits on the verso.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Contact [email protected] or call 0131 624 6247.

Free photography and film rushes can be downloaded via Dropbox.

More on the exhibition A Taste for Impressionism:

A TASTE FOR IMPRESSIONISM: MODERN FRENCH ART FROM MILLET TO MATISSE

30 July 2022 - 13 November 2022
Royal Scottish Academy
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £12/10 Mon-Fri, £14/12 Sat-Sun and £15/13 August

A Taste for Impressionism at the Royal Scottish Academy will focus on the pioneering nineteenth-century Scottish collectors who had the foresight to invest in the avant-garde, with a stellar cast of artists represented including Monet, Gauguin and Van Gogh. While today a work by any of these names will fetch millions at auction, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries these artists were pilloried by the press and the prices for their paintings were surprisingly low. Many collectors were ‘new money’; individuals who had made their fortune from industry and were keen to acquire edgy works by modern and contemporary artists. Among them were several Scots who collected pieces by Degas, Monet, Pissarro and Cézanne well before their English counterparts. As the market for Impressionism began to thrive, a more sinister side industry in ‘fakes’ took hold. A Taste for Impressionism will include a few of these counterfeit works, one of which will remain unidentified to test visitors’ powers of discernment. The exhibition will run from 30 July 2022 - 13 November 2022 and is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

16 June 2022

Scottish National Gallery Project set for Summer 2023 completion

A transformative project to deliver an inspiring new space for Scotland’s renowned collection of Scottish art has passed a series of crucial milestones and the main construction work is on track to complete this winter. With all the major engineering challenges now successfully overcome, the project is entering its final phase. This means that members of the public can look forward to experiencing a brand-new suite of world-class galleries at the Scottish National Gallery in the summer of 2023.

The Scottish National Gallery Project will create a beautiful space for Scotland’s art right in the historic heart of Edinburgh, with striking displays drawn from the National Galleries of Scotland’s (NGS) broad-ranging collection alongside special loans from other leading arts institutions. Large windows will offer spectacular light-filled views across Princes Street Gardens, inviting visitors to come in and discover the work of pioneering Scottish artists such as Phoebe Anna Traquair, William McTaggart, Anne Redpath, Sir Henry Raeburn and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Stunning exhibition spaces will enable visitors to experience Scotland’s greatest art anew and feel pride in their national collection. Scotland’s artistic legacy will be revealed through innovative presentations, with much-loved Scottish Colourist paintings appearing among other major works from the first half of the twentieth century, bringing to life key aspects of Scottish art and society. New ways of looking at Scotland’s built and natural environments will be on offer, with early photographs of Scotland’s cities shown in the same spaces as grand paintings of majestic Highland and island landscapes. Reimagined displays of drawings and sketches will celebrate artists such as Glasgow Style pioneer Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh and David Allan, whose depictions of ‘Edinburgh Characters’ will allow visitors to get up close to street life in the capital in the late eighteenth century.

The teams working on the Scottish National Gallery project have been dealing with an incredibly challenging location, situated within a World Heritage Site which comprises an iconic A-listed nineteenth-century building with several major modern additions from the late 1960s onwards. The creation of new Gallery spaces has entailed extensive excavation underneath the existing building and its setting on the Mound. Unexpected remnants from previous developments added significant complexity to the building work. These include deeply buried layers of dense concrete and other undocumented obstructions which had to be extracted before major waterproofing works could be completed to protect the new development for the future. In addition, the location of a key area of the site directly above the three Mound rail tunnels, some of the busiest in Scotland, posed distinct logistical challenges. These challenges have all now been successfully overcome and the construction work is entering its final phase.

Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir John Leighton, said: “We are excited to be looking forward to a summer 2023 opening for the magnificent new spaces that will be delivered by the Scottish National Gallery Project. They will enable our visitors to discover and enjoy Scotland’s greatest art in a fully accessible suite of world-class facilities right in the centre of Edinburgh. Reaching this stage has been no mean feat, given the unique set of construction challenges faced by the Project all within the very difficult context of the global pandemic. With these now largely overcome, our attention can now focus on preparing the new Galleries for a joyous and celebratory unveiling next year.”

While construction has been ongoing, a wide programme of engagement and outreach for the Project has also been delivered, taking in schools in Fife, Orkney and West Lothian, social groups for older people experiencing loneliness in Edinburgh, and youth groups in the Borders. Digital activity has further extended the reach of the Project through a rich and engaging series of videos about star works of art from the Scottish collection, and a painstaking monumental conservation project gripped online audiences during lockdown.

The first phase of the Scottish National Gallery Project was completed successfully in 2019. This included a new entrance area in East Princes Street Gardens, a new café, refurbished restaurant and shop, an elegant sandstone terrace, and new landscaping and paths to improve access to the gardens and the Galleries.

The Scottish National Gallery remains open to visitors, with many works of major international importance on show such as Sir Edwin Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen and Sir Henry Raeburn’s Reverend Robert Walker (1755 - 1808), famously known as ‘The Skating Minister’. Visitor offers include a free and specially created Smartify audio tour which focuses on collection highlights and a family trail.

The vision for the Scottish National Gallery Project, which got underway in October 2018, has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can discover and enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.

View a fly-through animation of the Scottish National Gallery Project and visit our website hub to discover more stories about the project.

15 June 2022

Young Ukrainian refugees gifted art packs by the National Galleries of Scotland

A selection of free-use images are available to download via this Dropbox link. Please credit Roberto Ricciuti.

Three thousand art packs for refugees and asylum seekers have been made by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Intended as a warm welcome to people arriving in Scotland who have fled conflict or persecution, they are being gifted in partnership with several charities and local authorities.

A large group of Ukrainian children and young people recently picked up their packs at an art workshop at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Organised by NGS and Dnipro Kids, a charity which supports orphanage children from Ukraine, activities across the day included an introduction to painting with their new watercolour sets, clay sculpture making and exploring the gallery spaces.

Thousands of the packs have been shared among other charities, including Aberlour Scottish Guardianship Service, Scottish Refugee Council, SCOREscotland, Cyrenians and The Welcoming. Local authorities across the country have also assisted in distributing the art materials to refugees and asylum seekers in their areas.

The packs contain 10 high-quality postcards showing artworks from the national collection, specially chosen for the children and young people receiving the packs. The images were selected with the intention of providing hope, to spark their curiosity and to introduce them to Scottish culture. For instance, Una and the Lion (c. 1860) by William Bell Scott draws on the story of a brave young girl undertaking a frightening journey on her own. The packs also contain a sketchbook, pencil, colouring pens, a watercolour set and paint brush.

Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: "It is a privilege for the National Galleries of Scotland to play a small part in extending a warm welcome to the people who will receive the art packs, and we very much hope they enjoy getting creative with them. We are also grateful to the charity and local authority partners who are helping us with distribution. We would welcome hearing from other such organisations should they be interested in requesting art packs for their beneficiaries."

Steven Carr, Chair of Dnipro Kids said: “We’re very grateful to the National Galleries for their help. This art packs and visit have been wonderfully stimulating for the kids, who have enjoyed themselves immensely. The welcome and kindness from the people of Scotland continues to amaze us all, and this is another example of how people have opened their hearts to our group.”

Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People's Postcode Lottery said; “We are pleased that players of People Postcode Lottery support the National Galleries of Scotland in extending a warm welcome to children and young people forced to flee from danger in their home countries. We hope the art packs offer all recipients the opportunity to spend some time getting creative as they settle in here in Scotland.”

Notes to editors

For more information contact [email protected]

Dnipro Kids is a registered charity established in 2005 to support orphanage children from Ukraine. The charity was established after fans of Hibernian FC visited an orphanage in the city when their club was taking part in a Europa League match.

1 June 2022
National Galleries of Scotland seeks views on plans for transformative major development in North Edinburgh

A public consultation has started on ambitious plans by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) to construct a vitally important new building in Granton, North Edinburgh. Titled The Art Works, the facility will house Scotland’s extraordinary national art collection and provide a significant, long-term contribution to benefit and enhance the local community for years to come.

Located at the heart of one of Scotland’s most diverse yet socioeconomically deprived areas, The Art Works has a unique dual purpose at its core: firstly, as a base for more than 100,000 works of art to be cared for, conserved and researched; and secondly as a key focal point for community investment, pride and growth. The building will by fully accessible and open to all, offering world-class visitor facilities, rooms for education and community programmes, and new outdoor public spaces – all designed to meet the needs of and help realise the huge potential of the local community.

At present the collection is stored across several sites where access and space are extremely limited, logistics are difficult, and conditions are suboptimal for enabling the full potential for public access, conservation and research to be realised; and also for allowing works to be made available for display and loan. The Art Works will be instrumental in addressing each of these issues, enabling much greater access to and engagement with Scotland’s artistic treasures. The scope for touring the collection around Scotland and internationally will be greatly increased, meaning more people than ever before will be able to connect and engage with Scotland’s incredible artistic legacy.

Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment for both the National Galleries of Scotland and the communities of North Edinburgh. The Art Works has the potential to be truly transformative, not only in how Scotland’s national collection of art is cared for and shared more widely, but also by providing much needed new facilities to unleash the creative confidence and spirit of the local area. I would encourage everyone to get involved in the consultation and together help design a major new building in Granton that will work for and provide inspiration to all.”

As part of the Granton Waterfront project, which is adopting ambitious plans on low-carbon travel modes and energy-efficient new housing, The Art Works will play an important role in Scotland’s green recovery as the country’s largest building designed to the Passivhaus standard, which goes beyond the requirements for meeting Scotland’s 2030 carbon reduction targets.

The Art Works will be located on a site west of Madelvic House on Granton Park Avenue. The project is at the pre-planning application consultation stage which enables members of the public to share their views on the proposals. These will be considered before NGS proceeds to submit a full planning application.

People can find out more about the proposals at an event on Monday 6 June 2022 from 3pm-7pm at Edinburgh College (Granton Campus). In addition, an online question and answer session with the project team is planned for Tuesday 7 June 2022 between 5pm7pm. Further information on the proposals, including a survey and FAQs, can be found on the NGS website at www.nationalgalleries.org/theartworks. Comments should be made by 1 July 2022, when the consultation will close.

ENDS

Notes to editors
Contact: [email protected]

Further information on the proposals, including a survey and FAQs, can be found at www.nationalgalleries.org/theartworks

26 April 2022
Major Impressionist exhibition will reveal Scotland's starring role in rise of modern art phenomenon

The remarkable story of how Scotland became home to one of the world’s greatest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art will be celebrated in a major National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) exhibition this summer.

A Taste for Impressionism: Modern French art from Millet to Matisse (30 July – 13 November 2022) will explore how visionary Scottish collectors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries invested in what were then innovative and radical artworks. World famous paintings by a stellar cast including Van Gogh, Degas and Gauguin will feature throughout, offering visitors a rare chance to delve into a fascinating yet little-known aspect of Scotland’s cultural history. Other highlights will include seven works by Claude Monet from across his career and, for the first time, the full set of Matisse’s vibrant Jazz prints.

While today a painting by the great Impressionists and Post-Impressionists will fetch millions at auction, artists associated with the movements were at first mocked in the press, and the prices paid for their works were surprisingly low. Among the few collectors who had the foresight to buy what were then edgy works of art were a handful of Scottish tastemakers who snapped up pieces by the likes of Degas, Monet, Pissarro and Cézanne, often well before their English counterparts. Several of these individuals were ‘new money’ having become rich through shipbuilding and textiles.

As the market for Impressionism began to thrive, a sinister side industry in ‘fakes’ took hold, culminating in two major scandals in the early 1930s around the forging of works by Millet and Van Gogh. In keeping with the true spirit of the age, A Taste for Impressionism will include some counterfeit works which will remain unidentified to test visitors’ powers of discernment.

Among the exhibition highlights will be several of NGS’s world-class holdings, such as Gauguin’s Vision of the Sermon and Degas’s Portrait of Diego Martelli, as well as pre-Impressionist masterpieces such as Pissarro’s The Marne at Chennevières. The fact that works of such renown and quality are held in Scotland is down to two chance factors—a series of innovative purchases by previous NGS directors in the first half of the twentieth century, and the generosity of benefactors such as Sir Alexander and Rosalind Maitland—both reflecting the enlightened state of Scottish taste in the inter-war period and beyond.

A large number of early collectors of Impressionism were women, including the champion yachtswoman Elizabeth Workman, who was brought up in Helensburgh. Described by the artist Percy Wyndham Lewis as ‘one of the only people in England to understand French art’ her reputation as a collector has been overshadowed by men such as Samuel Courtauld, who created a dedicated museum in his own name. A Taste for Impressionism will reaffirm the role of Workman and other women who have to date been overlooked in this context. In doing so, visitors will be able to glimpse the affluent and cultured lifestyles of individuals such as Indian-born newspaper editor Rachel Beer, known as ‘the first Lady of Fleet Street’ and the flamboyant socialite Eve Fleming, whose son was the creator of James Bond.

Professor Frances Fowle, Senior Curator of French Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “The Impressionist era is one of the most compelling periods in art history. It gave rise to a host of artists who are now considered among the very best, despite being largely dismissed by the establishment of their time. Several Scottish art collectors were well ahead of their time in acquiring modern French works. We are thrilled to be telling their story for the first time through A Taste for Impressionism, an exhibition which we hope will delight and inspire our visitors.”

A Taste for Impressionism will span the entire exhibition space of the Royal Scottish Academy building, charting how Impressionism emerged from the indulgence of the Romantic period to become a bona fide radical movement, through to the price-shattering auction phenomenon it is today. In total there will be around 120 paintings, sculptures and works on paper taken from the NGS collection, as well as loans from Glasgow Museums, Tate, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Berwick Museum and private collections.

Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “We are thrilled that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are supporting National Galleries of Scotland to tell the fascinating story of how a group of radical art lovers made Scotland home to one of the world’s most impressive collections of Impressionist art. We are sure that this exciting exhibition, featuring works by many of the world’s most beloved artists, will appeal to a broad audience and we hope as many visitors as possible make it along.”

A stunning book The Impressionist Era accompanies the exhibition, offering readers and visitors an introduction to the art of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Written by Professor Fowle, one of the foremost experts in the field, it explores these artistic movements in the context of the history of collecting. Colourful and vibrant illustrations help tell the fascinating stories of how key paintings and drawings found their way into Scotland’s national collection. Artists covered include Monet, Millet, Gauguin, Bastien-Lepage, Charles Jacque, Troyon, Corot, Degas, Seurat, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Vuillard, Bonnard, Derain, Matisse, Legros and Rodin.

ENDS.

Notes to Editors

For interview and image requests, please contact [email protected]

UK first as National Galleries of Scotland aquire painting by Henri Martin

A highly unusual painting by the French artist Henri Martin (1860-1943) has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland with support from Art Fund. Now on display at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, it marks the first time a work by the painter has entered the collection of a UK institution.

Inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe short story, the painting, which curators believe was modelled by Martin’s wife, depicts the character Berenice, a young woman betrothed to her obsessive cousin Egaeus, who becomes fixated on her teeth. Before the marriage can take place, Berenice dies from a strange wasting disease, which frequently causes her to fall into a trance. Her grave is later found disturbed and Egaeus wakes from a stupor to discover beside him a shovel and a box containing 32 teeth.

Berenice (1885) is an early example of Symbolism, an art movement which saw writers and painters focus on ideas and the imagination rather than naturalistic representations of the real world. The acquisition of Berenice is particularly significant for the National Galleries of Scotland, as it complements other seminal works such as Paul Gauguin's Vision of the Sermon (1888), one of the most popular paintings in Scotland’s national collection. Once hailed as the first symbolist painting, Gauguin’s picture is regarded as a major example of Post-Impressionism and a key work in the history of modern art.

National Galleries of Scotland Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture, Christopher Baker, said: “It is a rare treat, albeit quite an uncanny one, for us to acquire such a mesmerising and unusual painting. This is a key addition to the collection because, while we have a world-renowned holding of impressionist and post-impressionist works, we have very few portraits and paintings that explore literary themes from the period. Berenice has great appeal, and we are sure it will be a hit with our visitors, both through its magnetic power and the gruesome tale it illustrates. This is a gothic horror story in paint!”

While Martin’s work never gained the eminence of that of Gauguin and his other near contemporaries, he is well represented in French museums and was a highly regarded artist in his own right with a successful career. He trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Toulouse from 1877-9 and later won a bursary that let him to move to Paris to study under Jean-Paul Laurens at the École des Beaux-Arts. The French state acquired a painting from him in 1882 while he was still a pupil of Laurens. In 1885, the year he completed Berenice, he won a bursary to travel to Italy, and began to develop an interest in literary and pictorial Symbolism. From 1887-9 Martin was also working on his magnum opus, Fête de la Fédération, at the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, a celebration of the centenary of the French Revolution. This work brought him considerable public and critical attention and subsequently he was in great demand for the decoration of public buildings.

ENDS

Interview and image requests should be sent to [email protected]

The National Galleries of Scotland cares for, develops, researches and displays the national collection of Scottish and international art and, with a lively and innovative programme of activities, exhibitions, education and publications, aims to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public.

Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. It provides millions of pounds every year to help museums to acquire and share works of art across the UK, further the professional development of their curators, and inspire more people to visit and enjoy their public programmes. Art Fund is independently funded, supported by Art Partners, donors, trusts and foundations and the 130,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, who enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and receive Art Quarterly magazine. Art Fund also supports museums through its annual prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year. The winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 is Firstsite in Colchester.

29 March 2022
Scotland’s largest ever Barbara Hepworth exhibition to open at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life

9 April 2022 – 2 October 2022

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)

Tickets: £13/11 Mon-Fri, £14/12 Sat-Sun and £15/13 August

Free-use press images and credit lines are available to download via this Dropbox link.

The largest exhibition of work by Barbara Hepworth (1903 - 1975) to be presented in Scotland will take place at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two). Comprising more than 130 artworks, Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life will offer a comprehensive overview of the Yorkshire artist’s career, covering key events in her personal life, her involvement with avant-garde art movements and her wide range of interests. Running from 9 April to 2 October 2022, the exhibition will include many of Hepworth’s most celebrated sculptures, several of which have never been displayed in Scotland before.

Organised by The Hepworth Wakefield in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and Tate St Ives, Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life will allow visitors to discover more about one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition will present a range of pivotal works including: modern abstract carvings that launched Hepworth onto the art scene in the 1930s; iconic string sculptures made during the 1940s and 1950s, and large-scale bronze sculptures from later in her career. Key loans from national public collections will be shown alongside works from private collections, as well as rarely seen drawings and paintings. Also in focus will be Hepworth’s diverse interests, encompassing music, dance, science, space exploration, politics and religion.

Exhibition highlights will include:

Some of the artist’s earliest-known paintings, carvings and life drawings.
The artist’s first ever set of prints, a series of lithographs made in 1969.
Mother and Child (1934) - a work created when Hepworth was pregnant with triplets and a key indicator of the development of abstraction in her practice, in part influenced by her travels to Paris in 1932 when she visited the studios of leading avant-garde figures including Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi and Pablo Picasso.
A rare example of Hepworth’s first coloured stringed sculptures in plaster, made during World War Two, a period when sculptural materials were scarce.
A series of works known as Hepworth’s 'Hospital drawings', showing surgeons at work in the early days of the National Health Service. These works capture her belief in unifying mental and physical existence to create a productive and positive society.
A group of works which reveal the influence of the space age on Hepworth, including Disc with Strings (Moon) (1969), made in the same year as the first moon landing.

National Galleries of Scotland Director of Modern and Contemporary Art, Simon Groom, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting this extraordinary Barbara Hepworth retrospective, the largest ever shown in Scotland. Not only will it present a rich and detailed insight into her practice, it will also allow visitors to get to know so much more about the varied interests and motivations of a truly brilliant modern artist. We are grateful to our colleagues at The Hepworth Wakefield for their support and we cannot wait to share the exhibition with as many visitors as possible.”

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life was curated by Eleanor Clayton in 2021 to mark The Hepworth Wakefield’s 10^th anniversary. The exhibition will travel to Tate St Ives in November 2022 after its presentation at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

The exhibition’s curator, Eleanor Clayton, of The Hepworth Wakefield said: “I'm delighted that this exhibition celebrating the art and interests of Barbara Hepworth is going to be shown all over the UK, from Scotland to St Ives, so that many more people get to experience the full breadth of Hepworth's work and incredible legacy."

This exhibition would not be possible without the support of the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

– ENDS –

Press view

When: Friday 8 April, 11am – 1pm

Where: The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two), 73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS.

Who: Eleanor Clayton (Curator at The Hepworth Wakefield), Simon Groom (Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland), Leila Riszko (Assistant Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland), and Patrick Elliott (Chief Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland)

RSVP: [email protected].

Email [email protected] to arrange interview slots with guests.

Photographers welcome.

7 March 2022
Modern Scottish identity explored in new photography exhibition inspired by Scotland's Census

12 March – 25 September 2022

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Free, advance booking recommended

A selection of free images and captions are available via this Dropbox link.

A striking photography exhibition titled Counted: Scotland’s Census 2022 will open at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on 12 March 2022, ahead of Scotland’s Census. Running until 25 September 2022, this expansive display will celebrate the varied make-up of past and present Scottish society. Thought-provoking projects by contemporary photographers which explore themes of ethnicity, sexuality, and occupation in Scotland will be included in Counted: Scotland’s Census 2022.

Drawing on the National Galleries of Scotland’s rich photographic collections, this free exhibition considers the complexities around the notion of identity in the year of Scotland’s Census, which takes place every ten years. Counted: Scotland’s Census 2022 will also present nineteenth-century photography alongside contemporary acquisitions, offering comparisons between the experiences of past and present generations of Scots. Among these, are Hill and Adamson’s portraits of the fishing community in Newhaven, Edinburgh, which are some of the earliest photographs ever taken of working men and women. Through their portraits, we see how working life in Scotland has vastly changed since the 1840s.

A variety of new photographs representing a diverse range of sitters will be on display for the very first time since they were acquired by the Galleries. These include portraits of Pakistani and Polish communities who have been in Scotland for generations to newly settled refugees living in Glasgow. Many of these acquisitions have been made possible with the generous support of Art Fund.

Highlights of Counted: Scotland’s Census 2022 include:

Captivating shots which raise awareness of the complexities that people from a mixed-race background face growing up in Scotland. Taken from Kim Simpson’s series Girls and their Mothers, her photographs challenge perceptions of what a Scottish family might look like.
Recent additions to Kieran Dodds’ arresting series Gingers. Dodds’ photography project showcases the diversity of appearance amongst red-headed people in Scotland and beyond. Begun in the lead up to the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum, it speaks to his interest in clichés of Scottish national identity, and the difficulties in assuming someone’s heritage based on appearance.
Portraits from Arpita Shah’s body of work titled Purdah, The Sacred Cloth, which depicts women from Muslim and Hindu communities living in Scotland, who practice the tradition of head covering, or veiling.
A moving portrait of an asylum seeker, one of the last residents of an abandoned Glasgow tower block. Taken from Chris Leslie’s series Disappearing Glasgow, which documents harrowing stories of the people on the frontline of the city’s extensive demolition and regeneration programme.

Louise Pearson, Curator, said:

“This exhibition is about celebrating who we are – what we have in common and what makes us unique. In the year of Scotland’s Census, we are delighted to be showing a wealth of new acquisitions that reflect the wonderful diversity of people living in Scotland.”

Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund, said:

“The juxtaposition of nineteenth-century photography with contemporary portraits in this exhibition provides a fascinating opportunity to examine and reflect on ideas around Scottish identity. Art Fund is delighted to have supported through a New Collecting Award the acquisition of new works that celebrate and represent the diversity of Scotland’s population.”

- ENDS -

About Art Fund

Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. It provides millions of pounds every year to help museums to acquire and share works of art across the UK, further the professional development of their curators, and inspire more people to visit and enjoy their public programmes. In response to Covid-19 Art Fund made £3.6 million in urgent funding available to support museums through reopening and beyond, including Respond and Reimagine grants to help meet immediate need and reimagine future ways of working. A further £2 million has been made available in 2021 for Reimagine projects. Art Fund is independently funded, supported by the 130,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, who enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and receive Art Quarterly magazine. Art Fund also supports museums through its annual prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year. The winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 is Firstsite in Colchester.

4 February 2022
New members appointed to the Board of the National Galleries of Scotland

The Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Neil Gray, today announced the appointments of Apphia Campbell, Gemma Gray, James McConville, Professor Katherine Sang and Dawn Thomson as Members of the Board of National Galleries of Scotland (NGS).

Members

Apphia Campbell graduated from Florida International University with a BFA in theatre performance. In 2013, she wrote her critically acclaimed piece, ‘Black Is The Color Of My Voice’ which opened in Shanghai to rave reviews before performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014 and touring the UK. In 2017, her show with Meredith Yarbrough, ‘Woke’, was presented as part of the Made In Scotland Showcase and won a Scotsman Fringe First, a Highly Commended award from Amnesty International and was shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award and Scottish Art Club Theatre Award. In 2019, she received her first commission from the BBC for a children’s story and also wrote for the National Theatre of Scotland. She joined the Board of the Edinburgh Fringe Society in 2020.

Gemma Gray is a strategic marketing and communications consultant who works across a range of sectors. She started her career at Saatchi & Saatchi London and has over twenties years’ experience in advertising, marketing and branding. During that time she worked for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, VisitScotland and the National Trust of Scotland. Gemma is passionate about the social, cultural and emotional importance that galleries and museums play within society and has a particular interest in public benefit and widening access to all.

James McConville has significant experience in financial services, group strategy and transformation. His career has been spent in financial services in both banking and insurance. He is a Non-Executive Director of Aviva Plc, a leading savings, retirement and insurance business and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Katherine Sang is Professor of Gender Employment Studies at Heriot Watt University, specialising in co-designing workplace solutions to creating inclusive and accessible workplaces for marginalised people. She has a particular interest in improving the working lives of women, neurodivergent people and those with long-term health conditions. Through working with employers across the public, private, third sectors and trade unions, Kate's work has created positive change for marginalised workers. She is an Academic Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) and delivers teaching and training on Human Resources management. She is also a member of the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel for the Research Excellence Framework 2021, the Equality and Diversity Committee of the Law Society of Scotland, and the Association of Research Managers.

Dawn Thomson is a therapist, coach and TEDx speaker who works in a private practice in Edinburgh. She previously worked in the graphic design industry for fifteen years, before retraining and holds a degree in Visual Communication from the Edinburgh College of Art. As a native Londoner with a Caribbean heritage, Dawn is committed to supporting NGS in its goal of inclusivity and art for all.

Appointments

The appointments will be for four years. Apphia Campbell, Professor Katherine Sang and James McConville commenced their appointments on 24 January 2022 until 23 January 2026. Gemma Gray and Dawn Thomson will commence their appointment on 1 October 2022 until 30 September 2026.

The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

25 January 2022
Ambitious and expansive new work by Amie Siegel to debut at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in March 2022

The National Galleries of Scotland have commissioned and acquired a major new artwork by the internationally renowned artist Amie Siegel. Bloodlines (2022) is the first of the American artist’s works to enter Scotland’s national collection and will debut at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) from the 12 March 2022.

Bloodlines is an expansive moving image artwork in which Siegel eloquently and poetically considers complex networks of art, pedigree and cultural identification. Filmed in numerous private estates across the UK, including on the Isle of Bute, as well as at public institutions, Bloodlines offers an intimate look into the world of cultural property, exploring the ownership of heritage and distinctions between private and public realms. One of Siegel’s most ambitious works to date, Bloodlines exemplifies the artist’s understated mastery of form, revealing systems of class and inherited wealth, while subtly suggesting colonialism’s role in establishing and perpetuating these structures.

Siegel has long been interested in the lives of artworks and objects—how they gain cultural meaning and value. Bloodlines follows the loan and movement of paintings by the English artist George Stubbs (1724-1806) from aristocratic homes and private estates to their exhibition in a public art gallery, and subsequent return to their home locations. The Stubbs paintings are first depicted within the lavish décor and stillness of the stately home interiors, then take on a new appearance and presence when installed by museum workers and seen on gallery walls by a viewing public.

Siegel uses juxtaposition, contrast, and repetition to create a rich constellation of images and ideas, allowing the resulting narrative to unfold associatively in the viewer’s consciousness. Motifs such as flowers, fireplaces, dogs, horses, and other creatures and patterns of action build and echo throughout the work, accruing meaning. The viewer thus becomes aware of distinctions between interior and exterior worlds, as well as the absence and presence of people; stillness and movement; animate beings and inanimate objects; images of past and present; reality and artifice. A sense of empathy is conveyed, as viewers encounter a cast of human and animal protagonists.

Ultimately, Siegel’s controlled and evocative stagecraft—carefully composed tracking shots, exquisite framing, precise editing, and compelling rhythm—exposes the dual processes of image-making and looking. Her deliberate execution of Bloodlines, using a seductive cinematic language, mirrors both the expressive surfaces of Stubbs’ paintings and the sumptuous interiors and grounds of the stately homes that helped provide his very subjects. In this way, she directs our gaze, and opens a window onto visions of cultural identity held tightly within the frameworks that fix its imagery, just as the surrounding world changes around us.

Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This is an incredibly important acquisition of a new work by Amie Siegel, an artist of international renown who has long been on our wish list. Filmed entirely in the UK, this beautiful and compelling work is exemplary of Siegel’s uncanny ability to consider and observe the lives of objects and their settings to profound and moving ends. While taking the particular contexts in which paintings by Stubbs have been collected, cared for and exhibited as her starting point, the themes Siegel explores in Bloodlines are universal. The work offers an exquisite meditation on time and place, and how social structures are defined and understood, ideas which resonate in our contemporary world. We are thrilled to be premiering the work, and proud to give Bloodlines a permanent home in Scotland’s national collection.”

The work has been acquired by National Galleries of Scotland thanks to the generosity of Art Fund and the Contemporary Art Society, whose contributions supported the production of the work, alongside additional production support from Princess Grace Foundation, New York and PALOMAR. Bloodlines will be on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) from 12 March 2022 as part of the exhibition New Arrivals: from Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville. It will also be on display at Thomas Dane Gallery, London, from 26 April 2022.

Notes to Editors

For interview and image requests, please contact [email protected] 

Artist biography:
Amie Siegel (b. 1974, Chicago, USA) has received widespread acclaim for astute and conceptually rigorous artworks that embrace moving image, installation, photography, painting, and performance. Her layered, meticulously constructed works trace and perform the undercurrents of systems of value, cultural ownership and image-making. Recent solo exhibitions include Medium Cool, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston; Winter, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; Strata, South London Gallery; Ricochet, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart; Double Negative, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich and Provenance, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Group exhibitions include the 34th São Paulo Bienal, Gwangju Biennial; Dhaka Art Summit; CAPC Bordeaux; Witte de With, Rottderdam; Vancouver Art Gallery; MuMA, Melbourne; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; MAXXI Museum, Rome; Hayward Gallery, London; CCA Wattis, San Francisco; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, among many others. Her work is in public collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London;, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Find out more about Amie Siegel on the Thomas Dane Gallery website.

Art Fund
Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. It provides millions of pounds every year to help museums to acquire and share works of art across the UK, further the professional development of their curators, and inspire more people to visit and enjoy their public programmes. In response to Covid-19 Art Fund made £3.6 million in urgent funding available to support museums through reopening and beyond, including Respond and Reimagine grants to help meet immediate need and reimagine future ways of working. A further £2 million has been made available in 2021 for Reimagine projects. Art Fund is independently funded, supported by Art Partners, donors, trusts and foundations and the 130,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, who enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and receive Art Quarterly magazine. Art Fund also supports museums through its annual prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year. The winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 is Firstsite in Colchester.
www.artfund.org

The Contemporary Art Society
The Contemporary Art Society champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft in the UK. Since 1910 the charity has donated thousands of works by living artists to museums, from Picasso, Bacon, Hepworth and Moore in their day, through to the influential artists of our times. Sitting at the heart of cultural life in the UK, the Contemporary Art Society brokers philanthropic support for the benefit of museums and their audiences across the entire country. Their work ensures that the story of art continues to be told now and for future generations.
www.contemporaryartsociety.org

15 December 2021
National Galleries of Scotland announce 2022 exhibitions programme
Impressionist treasures, a major Barbara Hepworth retrospective and photographic views on Scottish identity among highlights

A world-first exhibition dedicated to sharing the remarkable story of Scotland’s key role in popularising modern French art is announced today (15 December) as one of several highlights of the National Galleries of Scotland’s 2022 programme.

A Taste for Impressionism at the Royal Scottish Academy will focus on the pioneering nineteenth-century Scottish collectors who had the foresight to invest in the avant-garde, with a stellar cast of artists represented including Monet, Gauguin and Van Gogh. While today a work by any of these names will fetch millions at auction, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries these artists were pilloried by the press and the prices for their paintings were surprisingly low. Many collectors were ‘new money’; individuals who had made their fortune from industry and were keen to acquire edgy works by modern and contemporary artists. Among them were several Scots who collected pieces by Degas, Monet, Pissarro and Cézanne well before their English counterparts. As the market for Impressionism began to thrive, a more sinister side industry in ‘fakes’ took hold. A Taste for Impressionism will include a few of these counterfeit works, each of which will remain unidentified to test visitors’ powers of discernment. The exhibition will run from 30 July 2022 - 13 November 2022.

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) will chart the development of the artist’s practice, her involvement with multiple avant-garde art movements, and the events in her personal life which shaped her work. This major, career-spanning retrospective will be the largest exhibition of the artist’s work in Scotland. On display will be some of her most celebrated works, including the modern abstract carvings that launched her career in the 1920s and 1930s, her iconic strung sculptures of the 1940s and 1950s, and later large-scale bronze and carved sculptures. Comprising more than 120 works including rarely seen drawings and paintings lent from public and private collections, the exhibition will bring insight to Hepworth’s wide-ranging interests, such as dance, theatre, music, religion, politics and science, showing how they infused her artistic practice. Running from 9 April 2022 to 2 October 2022, Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life is curated by Eleanor Clayton and organised by The Hepworth Wakefield in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate St Ives.

People, place and identity are the focus of two exhibitions at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2022, each exploring aspects of life in present day Scotland for a diverse range of communities and individuals. Counted: Scotland’s Census 2022 will consider the varied make-up of past and present Scottish society. Running from 12 March 2022 to 25 September 2022 and drawing on the Galleries’ rich photographic collections, the exhibition will, in the year of Scotland’s Census, consider the complexities around the notion of identity, taking into account ethnicity, sexuality, occupation, and health. Works on show will range from portraits of individuals, single parent families, Pakistani and Polish communities, refugees living in Glasgow and people living in Eigg, the first Scottish island to become owned by the local community through a buyout. Several new acquisitions from thought-provoking projects by contemporary photographers working in Scotland such as Arpita Shah, Danny North and Kieran Dodds will be presented alongside arresting nineteenth-century works by Thomas Annan and Hill and Adamson, offering comparisons between the experiences of past and present generations of Scots.

You Are Here 2022, also showing at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, will celebrate and share recent and ongoing collaborative projects between the Galleries and partner organisations across the country. They include place-based initiatives with groups of young people in former mining towns, and life-affirming public art schemes in North Ayrshire. Running from 5 February 2022 – March 2023, You Are Here 2022 will explore the various ways that people can engage with art to bring benefits to their health and wellbeing, and explore their sense of identity and belonging. Coproduced artworks and other forms of content will be displayed alongside works from the Galleries’ permanent collection to amplify new voices and offer fresh views on contemporary Scotland.

The final upcoming programme highlight is the return of a wonderful tradition: the opening of Turner in January, an exhibition of the outstanding collection of Turner watercolours bequeathed in 1900 by Henry Vaughan (1809-1899). Presented at the Scottish National Gallery, this much-loved annual display will open on New Year’s Day 2022 and run throughout the month of January. Once again it promises a special chance to experience the artist's genius through a range of works, from subtle and meticulous ‘Monro School’ watercolours of the 1790s, such as Rye, Sussex and Lake Albano, to the spectacular Venetian views of 1840, such as The Piazzetta, Venice and Venice from the Laguna, which capture the drama and explosive skies of late summer Adriatic storms.

Sir John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “These highlights from our 2022 programme offer tantalising moments of discovery for everyone. Whether that means getting close to some of the greatest Impressionist paintings in the world, or enjoying the work of Barbara Hepworth, one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, there is so much to look forward to across our Galleries. As the country prepares to take part in the first Census for ten years, it feels apt to be focusing on Scotland's diverse communities through both our Census-themed photography and You Are Here exhibitions. We very much look forward to sharing this exciting programme with our visitors.”

Completing the 2022 programme are current exhibitions at Modern One and Modern Two respectively: New Arrivals: from Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville, a fascinating showcase of modern and contemporary art acquisitions by artists such as Damien Hirst, Jenny Saville and Pablo Picasso; and the critically-acclaimed show Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema celebrating the life, career and legacy of the late American filmmaker, which runs until 20 February.

ENDS.

Notes to Editors
A selection of free images and credit lines are available to download via Dropbox here.

Listings Information:

RAY HARRYHAUSEN: TITAN OF CINEMA
Open until 20 February 2022
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £14-12 (concessions available)
Book online at nationalgalleries.org

NEW ARRIVALS: FROM SALVADOR DALÍ TO JENNY SAVILLE
Open until spring 2023
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free but advance booking recommended
Book online at nationalgalleries.org

TURNER IN JANUARY
1 January – 31 January 2022
Scottish National Gallery
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free but advance booking required
Book online at nationalgalleries.org

YOU ARE HERE 2022
5 February 2022 – March 2023
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1J3D
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free

COUNTED: SCOTLAND’S CENSUS 2022
12 March 2022 – 25 September 2022
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1J3D
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free

BARBARA HEPWORTH: ART & LIFE
9 April 2022 – 2 October 2022
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £13/11 Mon-Fri, £14/12 Sat-Sun and £15/13 August

A TASTE FOR IMPRESSIONISM: MODERN FRENCH ART FROM MILLET TO MATISSE
30 July 2022 - 13 November 2022
Royal Scottish Academy
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £12/10 Mon-Fri, £14/12 Sat-Sun and £15/13 August

18 November 2021
National Galleries of Scotland acquire rare late eighteenth-century watercolour of a black woman by a Scottish painter

Download images here via Dropbox

One of the earliest known images of a black person by a Scottish artist has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland.

Edinburgh Milkmaid with Butter Churn by David Allan (1744-1796) is a beautifully painted watercolour which is both exceptionally rare and striking. It depicts a black woman alone and centre stage at a time when black sitters more often appeared as marginal or subservient figures in group portraits.

Looking directly at the viewer, she is shown in working dress, going about her daily duties and set against the backdrop of an elegant Edinburgh street. Her name and life story is unknown, but it is likely that she was a servant, a milkmaid, as suggested by the large vessel or butter churn shown beside her.

Modest in scale, the image is dated to the mid-1780s to early 1790s, a period when Allan created evocative drawings of ordinary people going about their daily lives in Edinburgh, such as soldiers, coalmen, fishwives, sedan chair porters, firemen and officers of the city guard. These works, known as Allan’s ‘Edinburgh Characters’, suggest a background context for Edinburgh Milkmaid with Butter Churn, but they are generally sketched in a summary way, intended to capture character types, rather than specific personalities, and were often copied and duplicated.

The Edinburgh Milkmaid, however, is highly detailed, precisely painted and clearly a portrait of a specific person. It is hoped that further research may reveal more about the connection between the artist and the young woman and shed some light on her identity.

Director of European and Scottish Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, Christopher Baker, commented: “We are so pleased to bring this remarkable, rare and extraordinary watercolour into Scotland’s national collection. It is an incredibly striking and special work, one which we believe will be enjoyed by many and, we hope, lead to new research on its background and most importantly the story of the woman depicted.”

Born in Alloa, David Allan was arguably the first Scottish artist to take contemporary life and customs from across the social hierarchy as a subject worthy of art. With the support of his patrons, Lord and Lady Cathcart of Shaw Park, near Alloa, he travelled to Italy around 1767 and remained there for a decade, painting historical pictures and portraits. He became interested in drawing scenes of street life, inspired by the popular print tradition of depicting street criers who called out to advertise their produce or trades. He sketched street vendors, aristocrats on the Grand Tour, coffee house scenes, dances, carnivals and local costume in Rome and Naples and on a visit to the islands of Procida, Ischia and Minorca.

These experiences led Allan to take a similar approach after his return to Scotland in 1779. He drew his subject matter from contemporary life, ranging from specific events such as The Ceremony of Laying the Foundation Stone of the New College of Edinburgh (1789) to timeless traditions and customs, such as A Highland Dance and The Penny Wedding. In 1786 Allan was appointed to a teaching post as Master of the Trustees’ Academy and he settled permanently in Edinburgh. The city and its inhabitants became a particular focus for this work. From about 1788 he developed the series of over twenty drawings of workers and traders; often referred to as his ‘Edinburgh Characters’, they typically show an individual or pair of figures with the tools of their trade, set against a simple architectural or rural background.

Allan’s subjects range from higher status figures, such as a Highland officer in uniform and officers of the Town Guard, to those who did the city’s heavy labour, such as the coalmen, chimney sweeps, porters and water carriers. Female workers are represented by a fishwife, a salt vendor and a lacemaker. The figures are drawn with strong outlines in ink to enable them to be traced easily, as Allan made multiple versions of his character drawings, several of which are held in the National Galleries of Scotland collection. He also reproduced his Edinburgh characters on a smaller scale as the cast that populate his landscape views of the Royal Mile, such as High Street from the Netherbow, made in 1793. Seen as a group, Allan’s street characters give a broad and fascinating insight into late 1780s Edinburgh as a living, working city.

Edinburgh Milkmaid with Butter Churn is one of several notable acquisitions highlighted in the recently published NGS Annual Review, covering the years 2019-2021. The painting will go on display at a later date following some conservation work which is currently being prepared. With much still unknown about the painting, the Galleries would welcome information, comments or feedback about it.

ENDS.

Notes to Editors

Interview and image requests should be sent to [email protected]

11 November 2021
Two important French and Scottish paintings enter Scotland’s national collection

Images and captions can be downloaded via Dropbox here.

Two important works of French and Scottish art recently acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) have gone on display at the Scottish National Gallery.

The first is a powerful painting by the hugely influential French artist Jean-François Millet (1814 – 75). The Faggot Gatherers is a small work dating from 1850-1855 which depicts two women taking a rest from collecting branches to sell as firewood. The older woman’s hunched back shows the raw side of rural life and the physical impact of agricultural labour. As an exponent of Realism, Millet favoured truthful views of contemporary reality and the artist’s empathy with the predicament of the labourers is evident in this unsentimental work. He trained in Paris and rejected academic painting, instead developing his own style focused on countryside scenes rooted in the Normandy of his childhood. His work had a profound influence on Scottish collectors and artists in the second half of the 19^th century, such as the Glasgow Boys, who recorded female fieldworkers in Berwickshire.

A painting of Rosslyn Chapel by the great Aberdeen-born artist William Dyce (1806 - 64) also now belongs permanently to the nation, having been on loan for several years. Situated around seven miles from Edinburgh, Rosslyn Chapel has been variously associated with the quest for the Holy Grail, the Knights Templar and the origins of Scottish Freemasonry. When Dyce produced this exquisite study in the 1830s, the chapel was already a popular tourist destination and a site of inspiration for artists such as J M W Turner and David Roberts. The painting is the first depiction in oil of the interior of the chapel to enter the national collection and a perfect complement to other works NGS holds by Dyce. He specialised chiefly in religious and medieval subjects, but had wide-ranging interests, including medicine, geology and art education.

Commenting on the acquisition of these two paintings, both acquired via the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme, Edward Harley OBE, Chairman of the AIL Panel, said: “I am delighted that the National Galleries of Scotland has acquired these wonderful paintings by J. F. Millet and William Dyce through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme. Millet movingly depicts two labourers, resting after work, in a theme he returned to many times in his career. The subject of Dyce’s painting is Rosslyn Chapel near the Scottish Borders, famed for its intricate stonework and for the writers who drew on it for inspiration, including Burns and Wordsworth. I hope this example will encourage others to use the scheme to enrich our public collections.”

Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at NGS, said:

“These fascinating paintings enrich the narratives of French and Scottish art in the national collection. Dyce’s Rosslyn Chapel, South Aisle demonstrates his extraordinary subtlety as a painter of architecture: it is a mysterious painting that evokes the beauty of a site made world famous by Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ (2003). While Millet’s The Faggot Gatherers, is the first oil painting by the artist to enter the collection; its arrival means we can demonstrate his enduring influence both on French and Scottish art of late 19^th century for the first time. The National Galleries of Scotland is immensely grateful to the AIL scheme and everyone who has supported it in making these two remarkable acquisitions possible. To mark the occasion, they have both been put on display in the Scottish National Gallery for the public to enjoy.”

Notes to Editors

Details of the two works accepted in lieu of tax are as follows:

JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET (1814-1875)
The Faggot Gatherers
oil on panel
30.4 x 18 cm
Signed ‘J. F. Millet’ (bottom left)

The Millet, accepted from the Craigmyle collection, settled £169,893 of tax.
William Dyce R.A., H.R.S.A. (1806-1864)
Rosslyn Chapel, South Aisle
oil on panel
12 by 15 i. (30 by 38 cm.)

The Dyce, accepted from the estate of Beatrix Cooper, settled £84,000. Its offer was negotiated by Christie’s.

About the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme

The Acceptance in Lieu scheme is administered by Arts Council England. The Acceptance in Lieu Panel, chaired by Edward Harley OBE, advises on whether property offered in lieu is of suitable importance and offered at a value which is fair to both nation and taxpayer. AIL allows those who have a bill to Inheritance Tax to pay the tax by transferring important cultural, scientific or historic objects to the nation. Material accepted under the scheme and related to Scotland is allocated to public collections by Scottish Ministers and is available for all. In the last decade this important government initiative has brought £423m worth of treasures into public ownership across the UK for the enjoyment of all - see more at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/tax-incentives/acceptance-lieu#section-1

About the Scottish National Gallery

Landmark exhibition spanning 110 years to open at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 

New Arrivals: From Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville 

27 November 2021 – spring 2023 
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)  
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR  
0131 624 6200
Admission free, but advance booking recommended
#OurNewArrivals

Press images and credit lines can be downloaded here

The latest and greatest modern and contemporary art additions to Scotland’s national collection will be celebrated in a free exhibition opening at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) on 27 November 2021.With more than 100 works on display, New Arrivals: from Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville will present a stunning showcase taking up the entire ground floor of the Gallery.

A wide range of styles and movements spanning 110 years will be represented, from an early-twentieth-century Cubist collage by Pablo Picasso to recent time-based media works by leading contemporary artists. Works by famous names such as René Magritte will be shown alongside those by brilliant but less-celebrated figures such as Marie-Louise von Motesiczky and Benjamin Creme. New Arrivals will also change throughout its run, revealing several pieces which for now must remain under wraps.

Highlights of the exhibition will include striking and vibrant woodcuts by Alberta Whittle, who will represent Scotland at the 59th International Venice Biennale; a large-scale diptych by France-Lise McGurn, the Glasgow-based artist renowned for works paintings comprised of intuitive brushstrokes, and a painting by the acclaimed Scottish painter and printmaker Barbara Rae CBE RA RSA RE.

Many artworks will be on public display for the very first time since they arrived at the Galleries. They include: 

The first work by the highly sought-after artist Marc Chagall to enter Scotland’s national collection. L’Écuyère [The Horse Rider] (1949 – 1953) is a stunning example of Chagall’s fixation with depicting female circus horse-riders.  
Bows (about 1910), a painting by Frances Macdonald MacNair, a member of the celebrated ‘Glasgow Four’, which explores the theme of female sexuality in her distinctive Spook School style.
Wangechi Mutu’s Histology of Different Classes of Uterine Tumors (2004 - 2005), a series of twelve politically resonant collages which challenge the cultural objectification of women of colour. These were purchased with help from the Heinz Fund and Art Fund.
Intervals 2 (2019), a generous gift from the influential British painter Bridget Riley, which marked a new direction in her 70-year career.
Seven unique prints by Ciara Phillips, an artist concerned with how printmaking can prompt discussions around current social and political concerns, purchased via the Iain Paul Fund.
The first artwork by Jenny Saville to enter a UK public collection; Nude (Study for ‘Branded') (1992) presents a female figure in an uncompromising way, confronting notions about idealised beauty from a feminist perspective. It was acquired through the Henry and Sula Walton Fund, an independent charity established to assist NGS in purchasing major works of modern art. 
Two exciting film and sound installations gifted by Outset Contemporary Art Fund: The Slave’s Lament (2015) by Graham Fagen, an evocative interpretation of the 200-year-old poem by Robert Burns; and Hanna Tuulikki’s SING-SIGN: a close duet (2015), which responds to the history and geography of the narrow closes that run from Edinburgh’s most famous street, the Royal Mile.

New Arrivals will also feature works by Natalia Goncharova, Glen Onwin, Frances Walker, John Bellany, Marie Harnett and Stephen Campbell.

The exhibition is the fruit of five years’ worth of acquisitions work, all made possible by the generosity of National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) supporters through gifts, bequests and grants. NGS is immensely indebted to the Arts Council’s Acceptance-in-Lieu and Cultural Gifts schemes, which enabled the acquisition of Damien Hirst’s life-size bronze sculpture Wretched War (2004); the first portrait Oskar Kokoschka painted in Britain after arriving as a refugee in 1939, and a remarkable set of twenty-one monotypes by the great Russian Constructivist artist Naum Gabo. More recently, NGS acquired an important line work by Fred Sandback; Untitled (1971) is the first sculpture by the artist to enter a UK public collection.

Art Fund has been instrumental in strengthening NGS’ Surrealist collection, which is now one of the best in the world. This includes Salvador Dalí’s iconic Lobster Telephone (1938), Leonora Carrington’s Portrait of Max Ernst (c. 1939) and Dorothea Tanning’s Tableau vivant [Living Picture] (1954). Tanning’s painting will be accompanied by a second acquisition of a work by the artist, a sculpture titled Primitive Seating (1982) made up of a re-upholstered chair with a long cat-like tail: it has been acquired with generous support from Alison Jacques.

The exhibition serves as a testament to the many individuals who have given works or helped NGS to buy them over the past five years. These include Iain Paul, an Edinburgh resident, who left his estate for the purchase of Scottish contemporary art, and several other generous private donors. NGS also extends its thanks to the late Drue Heinz and her Estate, Denise Coates CBE, Brian and Lesley Knox and the Patrons of NGS, among others.  

Commenting on the exhibition, Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: 

“Acquisitions breathe new life into our collections. They allow us to reflect the latest developments in Scotland and beyond, reinforcing the strength of our existing collections and research. Thanks to gifts, bequests and support from charitable funds and private donors, the national collection continues to grow in exciting new directions. We are very pleased to be able to share these works with our visitors and encourage everyone to come and be inspired in the discovery of our new arrivals.”

- ENDS –

Notes to editors

Information about press previews will be circulated in early November.

Interview and image requests should be sent to [email protected].

Booking details

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) is open 10am-5pm seven days a week. ;
The café is open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.  
Visitors are encouraged to book a free time slot for the visit at nationalgalleries.org.
The car park is open.  
A Changing Places facility is available.  
The grounds and sculpture trail are open and free to visit. No booking is required.

About the Acceptance in Lieu and Cultural Gifts Scheme 

The Acceptance in Lieu scheme enables taxpayers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership while paying Inheritance Tax. In this way, objects that might otherwise be sold on the open market and thus be potentially lost to the nation, remain in the public domain.

AIL is administered across the UK by the Arts Council, which also oversees the Cultural Gifts Scheme. This is a scheme for the gifting of cultural objects in exchange for tax reductions. Combined the two Schemes are capped, so can offset a total of £40m worth of tax per annum. Full details and guidance are available on the Arts Council’s website at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-museums/cultural-property/tax-incentives/ 

About Art Fund

Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. It provides millions of pounds every year to help museums to acquire and share works of art across the UK, further the professional development of their curators, and inspire more people to visit and enjoy their public programmes. In response to Covid-19 Art Fund has made £3.6 million in urgent funding available to support museums through reopening and beyond, including Respond and Reimagine grants to help meet immediate need and reimagine future ways of working. Art Fund is independently funded, supported by the 131,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, who enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and receive Art Quarterly magazine. Art Fund also supports museums through its annual prize, Art Fund Museum of the Year. The winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 is Firstsite in Colchester.

The Henry and Sula Walton Fund

Henry Walton (1924-2012) and Sula Walton (1924-2009) were prominent and highly-regarded figures in Edinburgh academia for more than fifty years. Married in 1958, they moved to Edinburgh in 1962. They worked in the field of psychiatry, Sula as a child psychiatrist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Henry at the University of Edinburgh. Passionate about the arts, they left their art collection to the National Galleries of Scotland and also established a Fund to help support acquisitions made by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Important works by Picasso, Toyen, Carrington, Dalí and Jenny Saville have been bought with help from the Walton Fund.

29 July 2021
Thomas Joshua Cooper’s landmark project The World’s Edge comes to Scottish National Portrait Gallery

THOMAS JOSHUA COOPER:
THE WORLD’S EDGE
31 July 2021 — 23 January 2022
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required
#ThomasJoshuaCooper

Our 2021 Exhibitions Programme has been generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

A series of stunning photographs, made in some of the world’s most extreme and remote locations by one of the most celebrated living photographers, Thomas Joshua Cooper (b. 1946), will receive its first UK showing later this month.

Thomas Joshua Cooper: The World’s Edge will open at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) from 31 July and run until 23 January next year.

Over the course of the last three decades, the American-born photographer has travelled around the globe, making photographs of the most extreme points and locations surrounding the Atlantic Ocean.

The result is an episodic journey that covers five continents: Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica. Cooper has set foot on uncharted land masses through his work, contributing to cartography and earning him naming rights of previously unknown islands and archipelagos. The only artist to have ever made photographs of the two poles, Cooper refers to this body of work as The World’s Edge — The Atlas of Emptiness and Extremity.

The photographer, who was born in California but who has lived in Scotland for many years, having founded Glasgow School of Art’s Fine Art Photography Department in 1982, first exhibited The World’s Edge at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His first monographic exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland is based upon that presentation, with 35 pictures featuring in the Robert Mapplethorpe Gallery at the Portrait Gallery.

Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art & Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “For the last three decades, Thomas Joshua Cooper has been pushing boundaries, quite literally taking photography to places it has never been to before. His close affinity with Scotland has seen him play a key role in the development of Scottish contemporary photography, while working on The World’s Edge – an extraordinary project, resulting in works of great beauty with a global dimension. We are thrilled that the Portrait Gallery will soon host the fruits of his groundbreaking physical and artistic explorations”.

The artist Thomas Joshua Cooper said: "I have worked most of my life on this project and having an exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland is the first time I have been able to show the work in my adopted homeland. I am hugely pleased and very grateful for this opportunity.”

Using a bulky large format camera that dates from 1898, Cooper makes only a single exposure at each location. He then develops the negative and prints by hand, back in his Glasgow darkroom. His photographs never feature human figures, instead focusing on elemental subjects such as rocks, ice, sea and sand. Yet the pictures provoke fundamental questions about the human condition. They address a need to engage with the unknown; in this case some of the world’s most inaccessible places.

Cooper’s seemingly empty views, often made looking out to the ocean from a precipice or icy shore, have a rare timeless quality. The reality, however, is more complicated, even devastating. Every single cardinal point he has recorded over the last three decades will be under water within 35 years due to the climate crisis. While Cooper did not set out to advocate for environmental activism, his work explores the conceptual notion of extremity — how far can we go? And at what cost? How much will we push ourselves to reach a goal or destination?

Inspired by explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) and Sir Francis Drake (1540-96), who circumnavigated the globe, Cooper set out to chart the outer reaches of the Atlantic Basin. He did so without an entourage or expedition team; instead his quest consisted of himself, his beloved analogue camera and a small number of trusty guides and pilots.

Cooper, who does not swim, would often be kitted out in a survival suit and on several occasions risked life and limb to make his photographs. In an age when it seems that satellites can beam maps of the most remote parts of the world into smart devices in the palm of our hands, his large scale black and white photographs reveal places that are still designated ‘Uncharted Dangers’ in modern map making, such is their isolation and unknown state.

Cooper’s epic journey, supported throughout by the Lannan Foundation, was intended to be completed in seven years. Instead it took 32 years and resulted in more than 700 photographs, of which a carefully selected suite of pictures will be on display in Edinburgh through to January 2022.

Notes to Editors

A 192-page catalogue featuring an essay by Anne Lyden, Chief Curator of Photography at NGS, will accompany the exhibition and is available for purchase.

For the Scottish presentation, the exhibition will feature three original pieces of music by composer and instrumentalist, Andrew Wasylyk, who was commissioned by NGS to create music in response to the photographs. These will be available to stream online on our website.

Thomas Joshua Cooper has lived in Glasgow since 1982 and is Professor and Senior Researcher in Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art.

The exhibition is supported by a number of individuals and organisations, including Martin Adam and William Zachs, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and the Peoples Postcode Lottery.

The Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Gallery, named after the renowned American photographer, is supported by a very generous donation from The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. The Gallery is the first purpose-built photography space of its kind in a major museum in Scotland.

The Lannan Foundation is a family foundation based in New Mexico, USA dedicated to cultural freedom, diversity and creativity through projects which support exceptional contemporary artists and writers, as well as inspired Native activists in rural indigenous communities.

The Foundation recognizes the profound and often unquantifiable value of the creative process and is willing to take risks and make substantial investments in ambitious and experimental thinking. Understanding that globalization threatens all cultures and ecosystems, the Foundation is particularly interested in projects that encourage freedom of inquiry, imagination, and expression.

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Saturday 17 July 2021
Scottish National Portrait Gallery hosts first ever showing of new body of work by Alison Watt

ALISON WATT:
A PORTRAIT WITHOUT LIKENESS
17 July 2021 – 9 Jan 2022
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
(Thu-Sat from 1 July)
Admission Free | Advance booking required
#AlisonWatt

Press images for the exhibition can be downloaded here.

A significant new body of work by Alison Watt (b. 1965), widely regarded as one of the leading painters working in the UK today, is to be exhibited for the first time, at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) this July.

Watt, most known for her beautiful and intricate large-scale paintings of drapery and folds, will exhibit a series of new paintings made in response to the practice of the celebrated eighteenth-century portrait painter Allan Ramsay (1713-84) in Alison Watt: A Portrait without Likeness.

A Portrait without Likeness will explore Watt’s continuing fascination with Ramsay’s portraits, and is the fruit of a long period of study into paintings, in addition to drawings and sketchbooks from his extensive archive held by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS).

Watt has long been an admirer of Ramsay’s portraits of women, in particular the intensely personal images of his first and second wives, Anne Bayne (c. 1739) and Margaret Lindsay of Evelick (c. 1726-82). Both portraits reside in Scotland’s national art collection and will be shown alongside Watt’s new work.

Watt has said, “Looking into an artist’s archive is to view the struggle that takes place to make a work of art. A painting is a visual record of the inside of the artist’s mind. A painting is something that takes place over time; it is not static. To look at a work of art is to engage with an idea, and that is not a one sided activity. It’s more of a conversation”.

A Portrait without Likeness will be accompanied by a beautifully-illustrated publication featuring conversations between the artist and Chief Curator at the SNPG, Julie Lawson, who has curated the show, as well as contributions from Art Historian Dr Tom Normand and a new work of short fiction by Booker Prize-nominated novelist Andrew O’Hagan. Watt’s conversations with all three during the gestation period of this body of work, has been important to its creation.

The exhibition opens at the Portrait Gallery on 17 July and will run until 9 January next year. The exhibition will then travel to Inverness where it will be shown at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from 29 January - 2 April 2022.

The artist Alison Watt said: “I’ve been looking at Ramsay’s portraits of his wives, Anne Bayne and Margaret Lindsay, for longer than I can remember. There is no doubt that these portraits are what first drew me to his work and I’ve looked at them intently over the years. It is not only exciting, but also a great privilege to show alongside his paintings at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.”

Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “This remarkable group of paintings take Alison’s work in a new direction. Hovering between the genres of still life and portraiture, these beautiful new works use aspects of Ramsay’s paintings for their starting point, but although they may have been inspired by the art of the past, this is a form of study that goes far beyond mere admiration or the modest hope, in her own words, ‘that some of the greatness might rub off on me’. In the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Alison’s subtle responses to Ramsay’s work create an extraordinary conversation between two exceptional Scottish artists."

Born in Greenock, Alison Watt came to prominence in the late 1980s whilst still a student at Glasgow School of Art (GSoA), after winning the prestigious annual portrait competition of the National Portrait Gallery in London. She has since exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally.

In 2000, she became the youngest artist to be offered a solo show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) with her exhibition Shift. Watt later served for two years as the Associate Artist of the National Gallery in London, which resulted in her landmark exhibition Phantom in 2008. Her work resides in many significant collections, including the Uffizi Gallery, Florence; the National Portrait Gallery, London; the U.S. Embassy, London, the National Galleries of Scotland; the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Glasgow; the Arts Council Collection, Aberdeen Art Gallery and the British Council.

A Portrait without Likeness will also display several rarely seen drawings of Ramsay’s and one of his sketchbook archives. They will be exhibited alongside Watt’s responses, made after spending time exploring Ramsay’s archive of drawings and sketchbooks held at the Galleries.

In her works, Watt explores the idea of narratives forming around individual objects found in some of Ramsay’s portraits of women. Commenting on her process, she said, “I’ve been considering the nature of portraiture itself; how we view it and what our expectations are of it. Looking at Ramsay’s archive has acted as a conduit for that. I’ve become particularly interested in some of his portraits of women, and the different ways in which he has chosen to represent them; the objects they hold, their clothing and surroundings. And in particular, his use of lace, petals, ribbon and paper; small details which appear and reappear in his paintings. As the art historian Horace Walpole once said, “[Ramsay’s work] ...is all delicacy”.

“Since I first started looking at paintings, I’ve been interested in the objects of study of the great masters, both how they are portrayed and their significance. As a genre, the still life can be very intimate. It reflects us, so by its nature is linked to the portrait. It is in effect, a portrait without likeness”.

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors

The accompanying publication to Alison Watt: A Portrait without a Likeness, featuring conversations between Alison Watt and the exhibition’s curator Julie Lawson, as well as contributions from Art Historian Dr. Tom Normand and writer Andrew O’Hagan, can be purchased here.

25 June 2021
FANTASY CINEMA INSPIRES NEW PLACE FOR KIDS TO PLAY AT SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART

Kids have a fantastic new place to play for free this summer. A pop-up outdoor play area at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) in Edinburgh is full of weird creatures and mythical beasts from a bygone era when vintage special effects thrilled movie fans in their millions.

Tying in with the Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema exhibition, the Creature Feature Play Area lets kids slide down a dragon’s tail, clamber across a frightful bridge and peek into movie cameras to spy sneaky beasts on the Gallery. Eerie flying saucers beam down on a climbing wall, and there’s also a giant sea creature to dodge as it devours the Golden Gate Bridge.

In a career spanning over three decades Ray Harryhausen created some of the most memorable and inspiring visual effects in the history of cinema. The exhibition at Modern Two, which includes a learning trail and is free to enter for kids under 12, has been created in close collaboration with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation. It celebrates his back catalogue and the influence he had on generations of famous film-makers. Harryhausen’s incredible legacy has now inspired a unique play area which is free for all kids and families to enjoy.

As well as the play area, the beautiful grounds and sculpture park at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art are an ideal destination for children and families, especially for a picnic on a sunny day. The newly refurbished Café Modern One will be open daily, 10am-5pm alongside the horsebox across the road at Modern Two.

The play area is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, through the Postcode Culture Trust. Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “I’m pleased that thanks to player support, kids have an exciting and imaginative park to play in with their friends and family. The park is free and open to everyone, making it the perfect place to enjoy some fresh air and have fun.”

The Creature Feature Play Area is open from 26 June until the 25 October and located in the grounds of Modern One. The play area will be open daily, 10am – 5pm, but may be closed if there are bad weather conditions. Designed and constructed by Old School Fabrications using movie graphics and bright bold colours, the play park includes sensory play and accessible elements for wheelchair users. It is free to enjoy with no need to book, but families are asked to be mindful of physical distancing and considering coming back if it is busy. Car parking and a Changing Places facility is available. Portaloo toilets for the play area and grounds will be open at the rear of Modern One seven days a week until the end of August.

Notes to Editors:

Ray Harryhausen | Titan of Cinema
Until 20 February 2022
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
£14-£12 concessions available

Virtual Exhibition Experience
Online at nationalgalleries.org
£10

Creature Feature Play Area
26 June – 25 October 2021
Open daily, 10am-5pm (may be closed if bad weather conditions),
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

Free admission
#creaturefeature

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- ENDS –

24 June 2021
SCOTTISH HISTORY IN THE FRAME AT RADICAL NEW EXHIBITION BY YOUNG PEOPLE

The project has been supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Scottish Government.

Key moments in Scottish history are the focus of an extraordinary exhibition involving more than 200 young people at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG).

Opening this Saturday (26 June 2021), Ruined: Re-inventing Scottish History is the result of the Image Liberation Force project which saw young Scots from Ayrshire, the Borders and Edinburgh radically reimagine the nation’s past through art over a four-year period.

Visitors to the Gallery will enter an immersive time-machine where multiple video projections flicker across a set of ruins showing shocking events and ghosts from Scotland’s past. Subjects covered include disputed territories, false heroes and heroines, wicked tyrants and bloodied martyrs.

Historic paintings depicting epic events and powerful personalities are brought to life in new ways by the young people. Their story is also told by their very own ‘bard’, Edinburgh producer and rapper Mercurius MC, who delivers a visceral address to the nation, past and present.

Shannon McLeish, a young person who worked on the exhibition, said: “The RUINED project allowed young artists to think more about Scottish history. It opened a door for us to make changes and create our own result. Some of us created worlds entirely new, others adapted historical events and made them their own. History for young people isn’t as important as it used to be. For us, we are the history. One day, people will look back at this time, and hopefully our art. We want to make today just as important as the great historical events. We want to control the narrative and do things our way. RUINED helped show us how that could be possible.”

Commenting on the display and the work behind it, Robin Baillie, Senior Outreach Officer, said: “The young people have fearlessly trusted their own interpretations of what they see in great Scottish paintings. They see that the stories we tell about the past are often more about how we want to see ourselves in the present. These creative and inspiring young people have made old works of art live again, using them to express their own views about the challenges facing young people in Scotland today.”

As well as the exhibition in the SNPG, an online game inspired by the exhibition, Flashback: The Ruins will be available to play on the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) website from Saturday 26 June 2021. Created in collaboration with the Tinderbox Collective Games Lab, it features characters and scenarios inspired by works of art from the NGS collection. Players are taken on a journey through six sets of ruins to explore identity in relation to Scottish history.

Image Liberation Force is the result of a four-year project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and The Scottish Government as part of Celebrating Scotland’s Art: The Scottish National Gallery Project.

—ENDS—

Covid-19 Measures at the National Galleries of Scotland

In 2020, 96% of National Galleries of Scotland visitors surveyed deemed hygiene measures put in place to ensure visitor safety ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. 85% of visitors stated that visiting one of the Galleries had a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

All four NGS sites will continue to operate with a one-way route and visitors will receive a link to download a printable map of the Gallery so they can easily find their way through. Some smaller rooms and spaces will remain closed to conform with safe physical-distancing measures. Visitors can also use the Smartify app to delve deeper into the artworks on display, with highlight tours revealing hidden details and stories about key works.

Site opening details

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

— The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.

— From 1 July 2021 the Gallery will be open for three days a week (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays).

— The café is open in line with Gallery opening hours.

— The ground floor, including the Great Hall, ambulatory on the first floor and galleries 5-10 on the second floor are open. The Modern Portrait exhibition is open.

— The library (including the research consultation area) is closed. Rooms 1-4 on the top floor are closed.

— The shop is closed.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery Project

The vision for the Scottish National Gallery Project, which got underway in October 2018, has been driven by the National Galleries’ ambition to ensure that the widest number of people can enjoy our art and activities. The displays in the new galleries will be directly informed by extensive research into the needs of existing and potential audiences.

The scope of the new displays will encompass the work of early 20th-century artists such as Anne Redpath, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Stanley Cursiter, Phyllis Mary Bone and the Scottish Colourists S J Peploe and F C B Cadell.

The project will create a beautiful new space in the heart of Edinburgh, which will be free for everyone to use and enjoy. A series of large windows, running the length of the new gardens-level façade, will fill the galleries with light and colour and offer spectacular views

A fly-through animation of the Scottish National Gallery Project is available to view here.

Read more on the Scottish National Gallery Project on our website here.

3 June 2021
CHAIR REAPPOINTED TO THE NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND BOARD

The Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Jenny Gilruth today announced the reappointment of Benny Higgins as Chair of the National Galleries of Scotland Board.

CHAIR
Benny Higgins began his career at Standard Life in 1983 where he joined as an actuarial student and went on to become a member of the Standard Life Group Executive Committee in 1996. In 1997 he moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to become Chief Executive of Retail Banking. He remained with RBS until 2005, during which time he led the successful integration of NatWest Retail Banking - one of the largest takeovers ever undertaken in banking. He became Chief Executive, Retail HBOS in 2006 before joining Tesco Bank as Chief Executive in 2008, a position he held until February 2018. In September 2017 Benny was asked by the Scottish Government to develop an implementation plan for the creation of a Scottish National Investment Bank. Subsequently he was appointed as Strategic Adviser to the First Minister on the building of the Scottish National Investment Bank and Chair of Scottish Government’s Advisory Group on Economic Recovery post COVID-19.

Benny is Executive Chair of the Buccleuch Group and holds a number of Chairmanships including Sistema Scotland, Markerstudy and The Fine Art Society (London & Edinburgh). He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University, Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University, Honorary Professor at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, Doctor of University, University of Glasgow and University of Glasgow, Court member of Finance Committee.

REAPPOINTMENT
This reappointment will be for four years and will run from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2025.

This reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.

REMUNERATION
This reappointment is part-time for a time commitment of up to four days per month. Appointments to the National Galleries of Scotland Board are not remunerated.

OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Benny Higgins does not hold any other public appointments.

POLITICAL ACTIVITY
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.

Benny Higgins has had no political activity in the last five years.

BACKGROUND
The Organisation
NGS fulfils a statutory role as one of the nation’s most significant cultural organisations. It operates within the context of the Scottish Government’s national outcomes and strategic objectives, including public service reform.

NGS is a vibrant organisation, employing around 390 staff at its three Edinburgh sites. Its mission is to care for, develop, research and display the national collection of Scottish and international art. This includes a lively and innovative programme of activities, exhibitions, education and publications, which aims to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public.

Today, NGS’s mission is based on the drive to make the greatest art available, free of charge, to a wide national and international public. NGS is one of Scotland’s most popular cultural destinations, ranking within the top thirty most visited museums anywhere in the world.

Core funded by the Scottish Government, like all public bodies, it operates within a challenging financial climate and must make the most of opportunities to collaborate with other key national and international institutions from a range of sectors and to generate income from a range of sources.

The organisation is governed by a Board of Trustees which is accountable to the public through Ministers and the Scottish Parliament for the discharging of the functions defined in the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1906 (as amended in 1985).http://origin-www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/16/contents

Find out more about the National Galleries at https://www.nationalgalleries.org/

1 June 2021
National Galleries of Scotland announce new 2021 exhibitions

New contemporary painting, a UK and European premiere, and sublime photography are among the highlights

2021 Exhibitions Programme is generously supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

An exhibition revealing a significant body of new work by the celebrated painter Alison Watt leads a thrilling 2021 programme at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS). Alison Watt: A Portrait without Likeness will present a selection of paintings made in response to the art and practice of 18th-century portrait artist Allan Ramsay, and open at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in July.

Visitors to the Galleries will be able to immerse themselves in a stunning exhibition of photographs by Thomas Joshua Cooper, made in some of the world’s most extreme and remote locations. They will be on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) from July. Also on show at the SNPG will be Ruined: Reinventing Scotland’s History, the fruits of a four year project which has seen 200 young people from communities across Scotland radically reimagine the nation’s past through art.

Displayed at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) and in partnership with Edinburgh Art Festival, the UK and European premiere of Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour will be a highlight of the 2021 Edinburgh Art Festival programme from 29 July to 29 August. The major ten-screen installation reflects on the life and times of visionary African American writer and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who spent two years in Edinburgh in the 1840s campaigning across Scotland, England and Ireland for freedom and social justice.

The final new exhibition of the year, New Arrivals at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), will celebrate the latest and greatest modern and contemporary art additions to Scotland’s national art collection, offering an eclectic burst of winter wonder when it opens in November. More than 100 works by artists such as Salvador DalÍ, Gwen John, Marc Chagal, Damien Hirst, Jenny Saville and Dorothea Tanning will be featured in a diverse and stunning display.

Completing the 2021 programme are current exhibitions at Modern Two and Modern One respectively: the critically-acclaimed show Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema celebrating the life, career and legacy of the late American filmmaker; and Joan Eardley & Catterline, which marks the much-loved artist and her work in the centenary year of her birth.

Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “With all our galleries now open again, we are thrilled to share our forthcoming exhibitions programme. As Scotland looks toward a period of recovery and renewal from the coronavirus pandemic, we are excited about giving our visitors the opportunity to engage with an inspiring offering across all our galleries. Whether that be through the work of Alison Watt, Isaac Julien, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Joan Eardley or the cinematic hits of Ray Harryhausen, there will be something special for everyone to discover.”

Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “We’re pleased to be supporting the National Galleries of Scotland to bring an exciting programme of exhibitions to Edinburgh. We hope they will provide visitors with an opportunity to make new discoveries as well as revisiting old favourites, and we invite everyone to plan a visit this year.”

-ENDS-

National Galleries of Scotland 2021 exhibition programme - full details

RUINED:
REINVENTING SCOTTISH HISTORY
26 June - 14 November 2021
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required
#NGSRuined

Our RUINED exhibition offers an alternative, illustrated history of Scotland through the eyes of 200 young Scots, who for the last four years have been imaginatively 'mashing-up' paintings from Scotland’s national art collection.

Visitors will enter a time-machine in which multiple video projections flicker across a set of ruins, where the shocking events and ghosts from Scotland’s past appear before their eyes, covering subjects such as false heroes and heroines, wicked tyrants and bloodied martyrs, angry mobs, territories and religion.

Youngsters from the Image Liberation Force project, which forms the basis for this exhibition, have found themselves in the ruins of the Scottish past, and historic paintings that depict epic events and powerful personalities, are brought to life by their imaginations. Their story is also told by their very own ‘bard’, Edinburgh producer and rapper Mercurius MC, who spares none in his visceral address to reshaping Scotland’s story. An online game inspired by on the exhibition, Flashback: The Ruins, will also be available to play on the Galleries’ website.

Image Liberation Force is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) as part of Celebrating Scotland’s Art: the Scottish National Gallery Project.

ALISON WATT:
A PORTRAIT WITHOUT LIKENESS
17 July 2021 — 9 January 2022
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required
#AlisonWatt

Alison Watt (b. 1965) is widely regarded as one of the leading painters working in the UK today. This July, she will show a significant body of new work at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery as paintings made in response to the practice of the celebrated 18-century portrait artist Allan Ramsay (1713-84) are exhibited for the very first time.

Alison Watt: A Portrait without Likeness will explore the artist’s continuing fascination with Ramsay’s portraits. Watt, most known for her beautiful and intricate large-scale paintings of drapery and folds, has long been an admirer of Ramsay’s portraits of women, in particular the intensely personal images of his first and second wives, Margaret Lindsay of Evelick (c. 1726-82) and Anne Bayne (d. 1743). Both portraits reside in the NGS collection and will be shown alongside Watt’s new work.

The exhibition is the fruit of a long period of study of Ramsay paintings, in addition to the drawings and sketchbooks from his extensive archive held by NGS. Watt has said, “Looking into an artist’s archive is to view the struggle that takes place to make a work of art. A painting is a visual record of the inside of the artist’s mind. A painting is something that takes place over time; it is not static. To look at a work of art is to engage with an idea, and that is not a one sided activity. It’s more of a conversation.”

A Portrait Without Likeness is accompanied by a publication featuring conversations between the artist and Julie Lawson, the Chief Curator of European, Scottish Art & Portraiture at NGS, who has curated the exhibition, as well as an essay from art historian Dr Tom Normand and a new work of short fiction by Booker Prize-nominated novelist Andrew O’Hagan.

ISAAC JULIEN:
LESSONS OF THE HOUR
29 July — 10 October 2021
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) 
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR 
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required   
#IsaacJulien

Presented by Edinburgh Art Festival in partnership with the National Galleries of Scotland

The UK and European premiere of a major new ten-screen film installation by celebrated British artist Isaac Julien, CBE, RA will be presented at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One), in partnership with the Edinburgh Art Festival.

Julien’s Lessons of the Hour offers a poetic meditation on the life and times of Frederick Douglass, the visionary African American writer, abolitionist and a freed slave, who spent two years in Edinburgh in the 1840s campaigning across Scotland, England and Ireland for freedom and social justice.

Filmed at sites in Edinburgh and other locations in Scotland, London and at Douglass’ home in Washington DC, Julien’s film portrait is informed by some of the abolitionist's most important speeches, weaving historical scenes with footage from recent times to foreground the continued relevance and urgency of Douglass’ words in the present day. Lessons of the Hour will be on display at Modern One until 10 October, to coincide with Black History Month.

Presented by Edinburgh Art Festival in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland. Supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, with additional support from British Council Scotland and Pro Av. ‘Lessons of the Hour’ was commissioned and acquired by the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester with the partnership of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and with generous support from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Mark Falcone and Ellen Bruss, the Zell Family, Ford Foundation, VIA Art Fund, Lori Van Dusen, and Deborah Ronnen and Sherman Levey.

Over the course of the last three decades, Thomas Joshua Cooper (American, b. 1946) has circumnavigated the globe making photographs of the most extreme points and locations surrounding the Atlantic Ocean. 

The result is an episodic journey that covers five continents (Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Antarctica). He has set foot on uncharted land masses, contributing to cartography and earning him naming rights of previously unknown islands and archipelagos. 

The only artist to have ever made photographs of the two poles, Cooper refers to the body of work as The World’s Edge – The Atlas of Emptiness and Extremity. This exhibition, based on the 2019 presentation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, will feature around 35 photographs in the Robert Mapplethorpe Photography Gallery at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG). Cooper has lived in Glasgow since 1982 and is Professor and Senior Researcher in Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art. 

NEW ARRIVALS:
FROM SALVADOR DALI TO JENNY SAVILLE
28 November 2021 — Spring 2023
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) 
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR 
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required
#OurNewArrivals

This stunning exhibition will showcase nearly 100 acquisitions made over the past five years at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Filling the entire ground floor of Modern One, works on display in New Arrivals will include world-class Surrealist paintings and sculptures by the likes of Salvador DalÍ, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington and René Magritte. 

A broad range of styles and movements will be represented; from recent works of film art, to a rare early-twentieth-century Cubist collage by Picasso; and from famous names such as Gwen John and Marc Chagall, to brilliant but less-celebrated figures including Marie-Louise von Motesiczky and Benjamin Creme. 

Among the contemporary works on display will be a life-size bronze by Damien Hirst, an early work by Glasgow School of Art graduate Jenny Saville, and several extraordinary pieces by a range of artists which are still under wraps. The show will highlight the richness and diversity of the collection and pay homage to the incredible generosity of our supporters. 

JOAN EARDLEY & CATTERLINE
Open now
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) 
75 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DR 
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Admission free, but booking required   
#Eardley100  

An exhibition to celebrate the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley (1921-63) in the centenary year of her birth is now open at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) (Modern One). Featuring nine oil paintings, 11 works on paper, and a selection of photographs and archival materials, Joan Eardley & Catterline display draws upon the permanent collection of Scotland’s national art collection. 

Eardley is one of Scotland's most popular twentieth-century artists. Inspired by her immediate surroundings, she made powerful and expressive paintings of everyday subjects, including the Scottish coastline and Glasgow's street children. During her lifetime she was considered a member of the post-war British avant-garde, who portrayed the realities of life in the mid-twentieth century. This celebratory display provides visitors with an insight into Eardley’s working practice and focusses on her works in Catterline, south of Aberdeen, where she worked from the early 1950s.

RAY HARRYHAUSEN:
TITAN OF CINEMA
Open until 20 February 2022
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)
73 Belford Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DS
0131 624 6200 | nationalgalleries.org
Tickets: £14-12 (concessions available)
Free for Our Friends
#Harryhausen100

This critically-acclaimed and immensely popular exhibition continues at the SNGMA (Modern Two). A thrilling and immersive experience, it focuses upon the life, career and legacy of American film and stop motion auteur Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013), whose movies shaped the face of modern cinema.

Harryhausen elevated stop-motion animation to an art form between the 1950-80s, and his films — such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) — directly inspired a generation of the world’s greatest living filmmakers, among them Steven Spielberg and Sir Peter Jackson.

The exhibition features the original models from Harryhausen’s classic movies. These miniature monuments to cinematic history join a treasure trove of drawings, storyboard illustrations, photographs, memorabilia and the art that inspired Harryhausen’s creatures and films, all taken from his remarkable collection, as well as an accompanying Smartify audio guide narrated by acclaimed film director John Landis.

—ENDS—

Covid-19 Measures at the National Galleries of Scotland 

All four NGS sites will continue to operate with a one-way route and visitors will receive a link to download a printable map of the Gallery so they can easily find their way through. Some smaller rooms and spaces will remain closed to conform with safe physical-distancing measures. Visitors can also use the Smartify app to delve deeper into the artworks on display, with highlight tours revealing hidden details and stories about key works.

Site opening details 

Scottish National Portrait Gallery 

— The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.

— From 1 July 2021 the Gallery will be open for three days a week (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays).

— The café is open in line with Gallery opening hours.  

— The ground floor, including the Great Hall, ambulatory on the first floor and galleries 5-10 on the second floor are open. The Modern Portrait exhibition is open.

— The library (including the research consultation area) is closed. Rooms 1-4 on the top floor are closed.  

— The shop is closed.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)  

— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is open from 10am-5pm seven days a week with the exhibition Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema.

— All visitors must book a ticketed time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/ray-harryhausen-titan-cinema  

— The café Paolozzi's Kitchen is open in line with Gallery opening hours.

— The horsebox pop-up café beside the entrance is open seven days a week.

— The shop is open in line with Gallery opening hours.

— The car park is open.

Scottish National Gallery

— The Scottish National Gallery is open from 10am-5pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed from Sunday-Wednesday (inclusive). 

— From 1 July 2021 the Gallery will open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.

— The Scottish Café and Restaurant is open 10am-5pm, from Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays). From 1 July 2021 it will be open for seven days a week.

— The shop is open in line with Gallery opening hours.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)  

— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) is open from 10am-5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday. It is closed from Wednesday-Saturday (inclusive).

— From 29 July 2021 the Gallery will be open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.

— The Gallery is currently showing an exhibition celebrating the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley in the centenary year of her birth. 

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.  

— The shop is currently closed but will be open from 29 July-31 August.

— The café is open from 10am-5pm seven days a week.

— The car park is open.

— A Changing Places facility is available.

— The grounds and sculpture trail are open and free to visit. No booking is required.

People’s Postcode Lottery 

People’s Postcode Lottery manages multiple society lotteries promoted by different charities and good causes. People play with their chosen postcodes for a chance to win cash prizes. A minimum of 32% from each subscription goes directly to charities and good causes across Great Britain and internationally -- players have raised £500 million so far. For details of the charities and good causes which are promoting and benefitting from the lottery draws, please visit https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar 

New players can sign up to pay using direct debit by calling 0808 10 9 8 7 6 5. New players who sign up online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk can pay using direct debit, debit card or PayPal. 

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28 April 2021
Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopens with first view of striking new work by Ken Currie

A striking new painting by the celebrated Scottish artist Ken Currie, depicting the preeminent forensic anthropologist Professor Dame Sue Black, will go on public display for the very first time when the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) reopens this coming Friday, 30 April 2021.

The large-scale portrait, arriving at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) on a long-term loan directly from the artist, will be shown alongside several other new works as part of The Modern Portrait exhibition. Visitors can book their free tickets now on the National Galleries of Scotland website.

Titled Unknown Man, Currie’s poignant, large-scale painting shows Professor Black in surgical robes standing behind the covered remains of a body. The idea for the portrait grew when Currie and Professor Black met during a BBC Radio 4 discussion programme on the relationship between art and anatomy. Currie later visited the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee, where Professor Black then was Director. The artist was so moved by the work he encountered there that he asked Professor Black to sit for a portrait.

Currie regards Unknown Man as being connected to his popular SNPG commission Three Oncologists; the former representing a progression from his 2002 painting. With both works now on display in The Modern Portrait, visitors now have a very special opportunity to experience both in the same space.

The artist Ken Currie said: “I am delighted to be able to loan the painting Unknown Man to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This will make the painting more accessible to a wider public and hopefully draw attention to the astonishing work that Sue Black has undertaken in her long career as an Anatomist and Forensic Anthropologist throughout the world. I’d like to thank both the Portrait Gallery for facilitating this loan and Sue Black herself for her patience and co-operation in the making of this painting”.

The Modern Portrait exhibition will also show dozens of much-admired portraits of famous Scottish figures, such as Billy Connolly, Annie Lennox and Doddie Weir, as well as several other works recently acquired by NGS.

They include David Eustace’s photograph Portrait of Crime Writers. Commissioned in 2019, it features nine luminaries of Scotland’s Tartan Noir scene, including Doug Johnstone, Chris Brookmyre, Marisa Haetzman, Denise Mina, Mandy Scott, M R Mackenzie, Douglas Skelton, Neil Broadfoot and Claire Askew. The image was captured at Stirling Castle during the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival which has taken place annually since 2012.

Also going on display for the first time will be Chris Close’s 2017 portrait of the percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie. Despite being profoundly deaf since the age of 12, Glennie has forged an award-winning career, collaborating with musicians and orchestras around the world. Close photographed Glennie when she appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2017.

Another new addition will be established portrait painter Clae Eastgate’s 2017 portrait of Scottish poet Dame Carol Ann Duffy. Titled Air and Light, the work was shortlisted for the National Portrait Gallery BP Award and toured the UK in 2017, the year in which Duffy became the UK’s first female Poet Laureate. The painting shows Duffy in dark robes resting on a chair and was acquired in 2019.

Christopher Baker, Director of European and Scottish Art and Portraiture at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: "Encounters between accomplished artists and subjects can have electrifying results and that is certainly the case with this powerful portrait of the distinguished forensic scientist Professor Dame Sue Black by Ken Currie. It has a confrontational quality and alludes to her important and revelatory work, with all the drama and intensity and careful calibration that are the hallmarks of the painter's career. We are proud to be able to show this extraordinary painting, which will be a key attraction in The Modern Portrait display, when the Scottish National Portrait Gallery re-opens to the public."

As well as getting to view The Modern Portrait, visitors will also be able to enjoy the SNPG’s magnificent Great Hall, ambulatory on the first floor and galleries on the second floor- all for free. Other exhibitions on show will include:

— Reformation to Revolution, The King’s Last Day: The Execution of Charles I

— Art & Analysis: Two Netherlandish Painters working in Jacobean Scotland

— Imagining Power: The Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause

— Scots in Italy: Artists and Adventurers

— The Remaking of Scotland: Nation, Migration, Globalisation 1760-1860

— Heroes and Heroines: The Victorian Age

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors

Ken Currie

Ken Currie is one of the UK’s leading painters, renowned for his unsettling portrayal of the human figure. A Glasgow School of Art graduate, Currie forged his career in the 1980s as part of a generation of painters known as the "New Glasgow Boys”. His work is known for its dominant themes of mortality, the body, mysterious rituals and quasi-medical practices, often tackled through unnerving imagery. His work resides in collections worldwide, including Tate, London and the New York Public Library. Currie is well represented in Scotland’s national collection, with over 55 artworks.

Professor Dame Sue Black

Professor Dame Sue Black commenced her anatomical studies at the University of Aberdeen. She has cited the job of a forensic anthropologist as being “to reunite the identity constructed during a life with what remains of the corporeal form in death”. She worked at the University of Dundee before becoming Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University. She regularly assists the police with specialist forensic work and is the current President of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Covid-19 Measures at the National Galleries of Scotland

Site opening details

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

— The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will re-open on Friday 30 April 2021.
— The Gallery will be open seven days a week.
— The café will be open 10-5, seven days a week.
— The ground floor, including the Great Hall, ambulatory on the first floor and galleries 5-10 on the second floor of the Portrait Gallery will be open. The Modern Portrait exhibition will be open.
— The library (including the research consultation area) will be closed. Rooms 1-4 on the top floor will also be closed.
— The shop will be closed.
— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)

— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) re-opened on Monday 26 April 2021 with the exhibition Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema.
— All visitors must book a ticketed time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/ray-harryhausen-titan-cinema
— The Gallery is open seven days a week.
— The horsebox pop-up café beside the entrance to Modern Two is open seven days a week. Opening hours for Paolozzi's Kitchen will be confirmed soon.
— The shop is open 10-5, seven days a week.
— The car park is be open.

Scottish National Gallery

— The Scottish National Gallery will re-open on Thursday 6 May 2021.
— The Gallery will open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and be closed to visitors from Sunday-Wednesday (inclusive).
— The Scottish Café and Restaurant will open 10-5, Thursday-Sunday from 6 May, moving to seven days a week from 17 May.
— The shop will open 10-5, Thursday-Sunday from 6 May, moving to seven days a week from 17 May.
— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) will re-open on Sunday 16 May 2021.
— The Gallery will open on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday, and be closed to visitors from Wednesday-Saturday (inclusive).
— The Gallery will open with an exhibition celebrating the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley in the centenary year of her birth. More details to be announced.
— The café will be open 10-5, seven days a week. — The car park will be open.
— The toilets at the rear of Modern One will be open seven days a week. A Changing Places facility will also be available.
— The grounds and sculpture trail will continue to be fully open and free to visit throughout the year. No booking is required.
— The shop will be closed.
— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

20 April 2021
Display celebrating the life and work of Joan Eardley to open Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)
#Eardley100

An extraordinary display celebrating the life of one of Scotland's most popular twentieth-century artists, Joan Eardley, will lead the reopening of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) on Sunday 16 May. The Gallery will initially open for three days a week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) and bookings to visit can be made now for free via the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) website.

The celebratory two-room display will mark 100 years since the birth of Eardley, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential painters of her generation. It will offer visitors an insight into her working practice and focus on her works in Catterline, the coastal village in Kincardineshire, where she worked from the early 1950s.

All drawn from the NGS permanent collection, the display will feature nine oil paintings, 13 works on paper, and a selection of photographs and archival materials. It will include some of Eardley’s most iconic paintings, such as Catterline in Winter (1963), Summer Fields (1961) and Snow (1958). Maps of Catterline, marked with the locations where the artist stood to draw and paint her subjects will be presented in the galleries, allowing visitors to trace her movements.

Inspired by her immediate surroundings, Eardley made powerful and expressive paintings of everyday subjects, including Scottish coastal scenes and children playing on the streets in Glasgow. During her lifetime she was considered a member of the post-war British avant-garde group of artists who portrayed the realities of life in the mid-twentieth century.

Commenting on the display, Leila Riszko, NGS Curatorial Assistant said: “We want to transport visitors to mid-twentieth century Catterline, to tell the story of what it was about this remote coastal community that so captivated Joan Eardley, providing the ideal setting for her development as an artist. Whether she was depicting land or sea, she had a truly inimitable ability to translate her everyday surroundings into powerful, emotionally evocative drawings and paintings – and that is what makes her one of the most admired and influential artists of her generation. We are very fortunate to have particularly rich holdings of Eardley’s Catterline works in our collection and we are delighted to be able to celebrate her centenary year with this stunning display.”

As part of the wider programme of Eardley centenary celebrations, NGS is also producing a series of podcasts in which broadcaster and artist Lachlan Goudie will be joined by figures from the art world and beyond to try to better understand the character of this ground-breaking artist. Each episode will be available for free on the NGS website and Soundcloud account from May.

The Scottish Women and the Arts Research Network (SWARN) will also be exploring Eardley’s career and legacy. Their aim is to spotlight exhibitions and displays, support collections’ research projects, and present a wide-ranging programme of public workshops, talks and more. The programme will be delivered via a range of platforms both online and in real-time running from May 2021 – May 2022. Audiences can view the range of Eardley events by searching #Eardley100 on social media.

Visitors to Modern One will also be able to experience the best of international modern art, including a major display devoted to its world-class Surrealist collection, featuring works by artists such as Dalí, Tanning, Magritte, Giacometti and Picasso.

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a physical press view will not be held. However, photos of the exhibition will be distributed on Friday 13 May and will also be available upon request.

Interview requests should be sent to [email protected].

NGS reopening dates

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) will re-open on Monday 26 April 2021.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will re-open on Friday 30 April 2021.
The Scottish National Gallery will re-open on Thursday 6 May 2021.
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) will re-open on Sunday 16 May 2021.

Covid-19 Measures

All four NGS sites will operate with a one-way route and visitors will receive a link to download a printable map of the Gallery so they can easily find their way through. Some smaller rooms and spaces will remain closed to conform with safe physical-distancing measures. Visitors can also use the Smartify app to delve deeper into the artworks on display, with highlight tours revealing hidden details and stories about key works.

New Joan Eardley book

To coincide with the centenary year of Eardley’s birth, a new book containing never previously published information and based on new research by Patrick Elliott (Chief Curator at NGS) will be published this summer. Joan Eardley: Land & Sea – A Life in Catterline (ISBN: 978-1-911054-29-0) will be available at the National Galleries of Scotland website.

Podcast schedule

Episode one explores how Joan Eardley approached the sea as a subject and the importance of the village of Catterline in the artist's life. Presenter Lachlan Goudie will be joined by arts journalist Jan Patience, artist Dawnne McGeachy and former Catterline resident Ron Stephen.
In episode two, Lachlan considers Joan Eardley's choice of materials and technique with NGS conservator Lesley Stevenson and contextualises her work in relation to what was happening elsewhere in the art world at the time with artist Jock McFadyen.
In episode three Lachlan is joined by Joan’s niece Anne Morrison-Hudson, NGS Curatorial Assistant Leila Riszko and NGS Archivist Kirstie Meehan to consider what we know of Joan Eardley’s character.

Each episode will be available for free on the NGS website and Soundcloud account from May.

The Scottish Women and the Arts Research Network (SWARN)

The University of Glasgow (including The Hunterian, Archives and Special Collections), The Glasgow School of Art, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow Women’s Library, National Galleries of Scotland and several other organisations have come together in SWARN to explore Eardley’s career and legacy from a number of different angles, to celebrate her contribution to Scottish art in the 20th century, and to give her the profile that she richly deserves.

Their aim is to stage exhibitions and spotlight displays, support collections’ research projects, and present a wide-ranging programme of public workshops, talks and more. The programme will be delivered via a range of platforms both online and in real-time running from May 2021 – May 2022.

SWARN’s website will be live next month, until then audiences can view the range of Eardley events by searching #Eardley100 on social media.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) will re-open on Sunday 16 May 2021.
The Gallery will open on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, and be closed to visitors from Wednesday-Saturday (inclusive).

The café will be open 10-5, seven days a week.
The car park will be open.
The toilets at the rear of Modern One will be open seven days a week. A Changing Places facility will also be available.
The grounds and sculpture trail will continue to be fully open and free to visit throughout the year. No booking is required.
The shop will be closed.
All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

18 March 2021
National Galleries of Scotland announce reopening dates

The phased reopening of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) will begin on 26 April, starting with the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) and its exhibition Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema. Visitors can book their tickets now on the NGS website.

Measures to ensure the health and safety of visitors and employees will be in place, including one-way routes around each Gallery and reduced capacities. This will enable people to be reassured during their visit while enjoying very personal encounters with their much-loved artworks. NGS has also secured the UK-wide industry standard ‘We’re Good to Go’ accreditation.

Reopening on Monday 26 April, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) will welcome visitors back to experience the landmark exhibition, Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema. Originally due to close in September 2021, the show has been extended to 20 February 2022 to allow as many people as possible to experience this thrilling and immersive exhibition. The Gallery will be open seven days a week.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will reopen on Friday 30 April with The Modern Portrait exhibition on show for the first time since March 2020. Some of the most recognisable portraits from the national collection will be on display, featuring stars such as Billy Connolly, Annie Lennox and Doddie Weir. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the artworks on the ground floor, including the magnificent Great Hall and the ambulatory on the first floor. The Gallery will be open seven days a week.

The Scottish National Gallery will reopen on Thursday 6 May with seven Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings newly moved to the ground floor to make these incredibly popular works accessible to visitors. They include Olive Trees by Vincent van Gogh, Haystacks by Claude Monet and Vision of the Sermon by Paul Gauguin. Visitors will also be able to reconnect with other masterpieces such as Diego Velázquez’s An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, Sir Edwin Landseer’s iconic Monarch of the Glen and Sir Henry Raeburn’s Reverend Robert Walker (1755 - 1808), famously known as the Skating Minister. The Gallery will initially open for three days a week (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) will reopen on Sunday 16 May with a new display celebrating the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley in the centenary year of her birth. Visitors will also be able to see the best of international modern art, including a major display devoted to its world-class collection of Surrealist art, including works by artists such as Dalí, Tanning, Magritte, Giacometti and Picasso. The Gallery will initially open for three days a week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday). Café Modern One and a pop-up café beside the entrance of Modern Two will also be open.

The outdoor sculpture trails, the grounds and car parks at Modern One and Two have been open throughout and will continue to be open. Visitors can become avid art explorers by taking part in our free, newly-developed Walk, Talk, Make sculpture trails, aimed at all ages. Highlights from the trail include the stunning Landform (2001) by the late Charles Jencks, with its undulating hills and calming lake, Tracey Emin’s Roman Standard (2005) and the first figure of the six that constitute Antony Gormley’s much-loved 6 TIMES (2010), a series of sculptures beginning at Modern One and which are sited along the picturesque Water of Leith.

Sir John Leighton, Director General of the National Galleries of Scotland said: “In what has been a challenging time for everyone, we know that visitors are keen to get back into our Galleries and reconnect with the art they love. We are delighted that we can now share our reopening dates so people can begin to plan their visits. Whether that’s to experience the incredible legacy of cinematic pioneer Ray Harryhausen or to enjoy spending time with their favourite works from the permanent collection, we look forward to welcoming people back in the weeks ahead.”

—ENDS—
Notes to Editors

Covid-19 Measures

All four sites will continue to operate with a one-way route and visitors will receive a link to download a printable map of the Gallery so they can easily find their way through. Some smaller rooms and spaces will remain closed to conform with safe physical-distancing measures. Visitors can also use the Smartify app to delve deeper into the artworks on display, with highlight tours revealing hidden details and stories about key works.

Click and collect for our online shop will resume from 5th April.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two)

— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) will re-open on Monday 26 April 2021 with the exhibition Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema.

— All visitors must book a ticketed time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/ray-harryhausen-titan-cinema

— The Gallery will be open seven days a week.

— The horsebox pop-up café beside the entrance to Modern Two will be open seven days a week. Opening hours for Paolozzi's Kitchen will be confirmed soon.

— The shop will be open 10-5, seven days a week.

— The car park will be open.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

— The Scottish National Portrait Gallery will re-open on Friday 30 April 2021.

— The Gallery will be open seven days a week.

— The café will be open 10-5, seven days a week.

— The ground floor, including the Great Hall, ambulatory on the first floor and galleries 5-10 on the second floor of the Portrait Gallery will be open. The Modern Portrait exhibition will be open.

— The library (including the research consultation area) will be closed. Rooms 1-4 on the top floor will also be closed.

— The shop will be closed.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery

— The Scottish National Gallery will re-open on Thursday 6 May 2021.

— The Gallery will open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and be closed to visitors from Sunday-Wednesday (inclusive).

— The Scottish Café and Restaurant will open 10-5, Thursday-Sunday from 6 May, moving to seven days a week from 17 May.

— The shop will open 10-5, Thursday-Sunday from 6 May, moving to seven days a week from 17 May.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

— The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) will re-open on Sunday 16 May 2021.

— The Gallery will open on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday, and be closed to visitors from Wednesday-Saturday (inclusive).

— The Gallery will open with an exhibition celebrating the life and work of the artist Joan Eardley in the centenary year of her birth. More details to be announced.

— The café will be open 10-5, seven days a week.

— The car park will be open.

— The toilets at the rear of Modern One will be open seven days a week. A Changing Places facility will also be available.

— The grounds and sculpture trail will continue to be fully open and free to visit throughout the year. No booking is required.

— The shop will be closed.

— All visitors must book a free time slot for their visit at nationalgalleries.org/visit.

15 March 2021
National Galleries of Scotland announce first Virtual Exhibition Experience, with Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema
#Harryhausen100

The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation are delighted to announce the launch of the Galleries’ first ever paid-for digital exhibition package, with a special virtual experience of our critically acclaimed show Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cineama, available today via this link.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions and closures have affected people’s ability to travel to and enjoy the Galleries’ exhibition on the late legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013), whose exhilarating movies shaped the face of modern cinema.

However, we are thrilled to announce this new digital package which allows viewers to enjoy — from their computer, phone or tablet, anywhere across the world, at any time — a virtual experience of the show which BBC Arts cited as, “a preview of extraordinary objects, literally on legendary status, that charts the rise of Ray Harryhausen the student, son and friend, visionary, director and inventor: a true master of his craft”.

Simon Groom, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “We are only too aware of the huge number of visitors around the world who had hoped to see our landmark exhibition Titan of Cinema, but have unfortunately been unable to. So we are absolutely delighted to share, for the first time in the Galleries’ history, this landmark virtual exhibition experience which is available to anyone, anywhere, at any time, worldwide. Packed with information and insight, and with access to special live events, it is essential viewing for those who have seen the show – an amazing visual record of an unforgettable experience – as much as for those who won’t have the possibility to visit Edinburgh. The wonders of Ray Harryhausen’s imagination have beamed into homes across the world for many decades, and we are delighted to continue that tradition with our very first virtual exhibition.”

Our Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience features a raft of content, including exclusive interviews, exhibition footage, film clips and specially created animation sequences which demonstrate Harryhausen’s innovative processes.

A one-time £10 purchase allows access to a stunning package of content, comprising of five newly-recorded short films, a plethora of Titan of Cinema exhibition materials including newly-digitised artworks, storyboards and movie memorabilia, as well as access to live Harryhausen events.

One film explores Harryhausen’s early years, of being awed and inspired by the movie King Kong at the cinema, then experimenting in his garage with amateur stop-motion models. Another offers an insight into animation techniques and the innovative Dynamation process which Harryhausen pioneered. Others reveal the secrets that went into making some of the filmmakers’ iconic models, such as the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts or Pegasus from Clash of the Titans — from early sketches to first formations to featuring in classic cinematic sequences and being carefully restored to maintain their silver screen legacy. The first four films are available immediately and one other follow in the coming months.

Each film, hosted by a different narrator, explores a different section of the exhibition and introduces new material. The star cast of narrators include celebrated comic book writer Mark Millar (creator of Millarworld), Academy Award-winning special effects artist Randy Cook (of The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Ray Harryhausen’s daughter Vanessa Harryhausen, acclaimed actresses Martine Beswick and Caroline Munro, Academy Award-nominated animator Barry JC Purves (Screen Play, King Kong), BAFTA-nominated filmmaker John Walsh (My Life: Karate Kids, Ray Harryhausen: Movement Into Life) and BAFTA-winning animators Nina Gantz (Edmond) and Daisy Jacob (The Bigger Picture).

They are joined by animators Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh (both Robot Chicken, Spongebob Squarepants The Movie, Celebrity Deathmatch) from animation collective Screen Novelties, and film critic Marshall Julius.

The package also features a raft of detailed information on the iconic models, drawings, storyboards and many other works on display in Titan of Cinema, and a video featuring a 3D model re-creation of a Harryhausen model — making this essential viewing for those who have seen the show, as much as for those who haven’t had the opportunity to view the exhibition in person.

The online experience also includes exclusive access to a series of related, live online events created in close collaboration with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, with the first happening in May and more over the coming months. More details to follow soon.

Our Harryhausen virtual experience also allows access to a number of Harryhausen-related live events which will become available over the coming months, with the first taking place in May 2021.

The digital package is available for everyone, wherever they are, whether they’ve had the chance to see the exhibition, or not.

Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema opened at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) in Edinburgh in October 2020 and had to close temporarily because of the pandemic. The exhibition will resume the Gallery reopens and is now scheduled to run until 20 February 2022.

Titan of Cinema has been organised in close collaboration with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation as part of the legendary trailblazer’s centenary celebrations last year. It is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever of the art of Harryhausen, who elevated stop-motion animation to an art form between the 1950s-1980s, and whose exhilarating movies inspired a generation of the world’s greatest living filmmakers, among them Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Sir Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro.

The exhibition would not be possible without the generous support of players of People's Postcode Lottery.

John Walsh, filmmaker and Trustee of The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, said: “For generations of moviegoers, Ray Harryhausen is a giant of cinema creating worlds and creatures that come alive on the screen. This first-ever virtual exhibition experience is the ultimate journey into those thrilling worlds from the mind of the stop-motion animation genius who revolutionised Hollywood special effects.”

Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “I’m so pleased that players are supporting NGS to bring the magic of Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema to the homes of audiences across Britain and beyond. I hope this new digital experience will engage as many people as possible, no matter where they are!

—ENDS—

Notes to Editors

Our Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema Virtual Exhibition Experience can be purchased from today via this link.

You can read more on Ray Harryhausen on the National Galleries website here and here.

For press requests relating to Titan of Cinema or the National Galleries of Scotland, please contact [email protected].

Find out more about The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation and the #Harryhausen100 here (Charity No. SC001419): www.rayharryhausen.com

More information on John Walsh can be found here: https://www.johnwalshfilmmaker.com

Viewers can also enjoy additional Titan of Cinema digital content via the Smartify app, which includes an audioguide narrated by celebrated film director John Landis. It is now available for free download on Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

People’s Postcode Lottery

New players can sign up to pay using direct debit by calling 0808 10 9 8 7 6 5. New players who sign up online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk can pay using direct debit, debit card or PayPal.

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28 November 2022 — National Galleries of Scotland announce unmissable upcoming exhibitions in Edinburgh

8 September 2022 — Her Majesty The Queen, 1926–2022

23 August 2022 — Second public consultation opens on National Galleries of Scotland’s plans for major new facility in North Edinburgh

14 July 2022 - Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait discovered by National Galleries of Scotland

16 June 2022 - Scottish National Gallery Project set for Summer 2023 completion

15 June 2022 - Young Ukrainian refugees gifted art packs by the National Galleries of Scotland

1 June 2022 — National Galleries of Scotland seeks views on plans for transformative major development in North Edinburgh

26 April 2022 — Major Impressionist exhibition will reveal Scotland's starring role in rise of modern art phenomenon

14 April 2022 — Eerie Symbolist painting enters Scotland’s national collection

29 March 2022 — Scotland’s largest ever Barbara Hepworth exhibition to open at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

7 March 2022 — Modern Scottish identity explored in new photography exhibition inspired by Scotland's Census

4 February 2022 — New members appointed to the Board of the National Galleries of Scotland

25 January 2022 — Ambitious and expansive new work by Amie Siegel to debut at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in March 2022

15 December 2021 — National Galleries of Scotland announce 2022 exhibitions programme

18 November 2021 — National Galleries of Scotland acquire rare late eighteenth-century watercolour of a black woman by a Scottish painter

11 November 2021 — Two important French and Scottish paintings enter Scotland’s national collection

29 September 2021 — Landmark exhibition spanning 110 years to open at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

29 July 2021 — Thomas Joshua Cooper’s landmark project The World’s Edge comes to Scottish National Portrait Gallery

17 July 2021 — Scottish National Portrait Gallery hosts first showing of new body of work by Alison Watt

25 June 2021 - Fantasy cinema inspires new place for kids to play at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

24 June 2021 - Scottish history in the frame at radical new exhibition by young people

3 June 2021 — Chair Reappointed to the National Galleries of Scotland Board

1 June 2021 —National Galleries of Scotland announce new 2021 exhibitions

28 April 2021 — Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopens with first view of striking new work by Ken Currie

20 April 2021 — Display celebrating the life and work of Joan Eardley to open Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

18 March 2021 — National Galleries of Scotland announce reopening dates

15 March 2021 — National Galleries of Scotland announce first Virtual Exhibition Experience, with Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema

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