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Crown jewels of Scottish art to be housed in new £16.8m complex Crown jewels of Scottish art to be housed in new £16.8m complex
(35 minutes later)
Scotland’s main national art collection, including works by Sir Henry Raeburn, Samuel Peploe and the Glasgow Boys, is to be housed in a major new gallery complex in central Edinburgh. Scotland’s main national art collection, including works by Sir Henry Raeburn, Samuel Peploe and the Glasgow Boys, is to be housed in a new gallery complex in central Edinburgh.
Sir John Leighton, director general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said the warren of corridors and rooms currently housing the Scottish collection underneath its famous neo-classical galleries on the Mound were “an institutional embarrassment”. Sir John Leighton, the director general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said the warren of corridors and rooms currently housing the Scottish collection underneath its neo-classical galleries on the Mound were “an institutional embarrassment”.
“They’re cramped; they’re dingy, they have an unpleasant subterranean atmosphere,” Leighton said. He admitted they were so badly sited, accessible only by a narrow internal stair, they were seen by only 18% of the galleries’ 1.4 million visitors each year. “They’re cramped, they’re dingy, they have an unpleasant subterranean atmosphere,” Leighton said. He said they were so badly sited, accessible by a narrow internal staircase, that the works were seen by only 18% of the galleries’ 1.4 million visitors each year.
Work has begun stripping out the galleries, which were built under the National Gallery and Royal Scottish Academy in the 1970s, to make way for a £16.8m redevelopment partly funded by the Heritage lottery fund. Work has begun stripping out the galleries, which were built under the National Gallery and Royal Scottish Academy in the 1970s, to make way for a £16.8m redevelopment partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The rebuild will extend the lower floor and the precinct above it by five metres, resculpting the eastern gardens with shallower slopes, broader, curving stairs and adding a far larger main entrance to the complex, which would bring visitors immediately to the Scottish collection. The rebuild will extend the lower floor and precinct above it by five metres (16ft), resculpting the eastern gardens with shallower slopes, broader, curving stairs, and adding a far larger main entrance to the complex, which would bring visitors immediately to the Scottish collection.
“It is absolutely vital that what I would call the crown jewels of Scottish art are shown right in the heart of the city, right in the heart of the national galleries, the symbolic cultural, artistic centre of the country. I’m absolutely confident we’re on our way to creating a space everybody can be proud of,” Leighton said.“It is absolutely vital that what I would call the crown jewels of Scottish art are shown right in the heart of the city, right in the heart of the national galleries, the symbolic cultural, artistic centre of the country. I’m absolutely confident we’re on our way to creating a space everybody can be proud of,” Leighton said.
Tricia Allerston, the galleries’ project director, said they hoped to double the number of works on show, including larger canvases that could not fit in the current rooms, partly lit by natural light, by tripling the area available. Tricia Allerston, the galleries’ project director, said they hoped to double the number of works on show, including larger canvases that could not fit in the current rooms, by tripling the area available.
It would feature work not often displayed including the Portrait of a Lady in Black by Francis Cadell, as well as the Scottish colourists such as Peploe, or Joseph Crawhall, a member of the Glasgow Boys grouping whose very delicate painting the White Drake was one of the galleries most loved Scottish pieces. It would feature work not often displayed, including the Portrait of a Lady in Black by Francis Cadell, Scottish colourists such as Peploe, and Joseph Crawhall, a member of the Glasgow Boys grouping, whose very delicate painting the White Drake was one of the galleries’ most-loved Scottish pieces.
There would be new spaces dedicated to Raeburn, best known for his “skating minister” the Rev Dr Robert Walker on Duddingston Lock, and for 20th-century Scottish artists such as Phoebe Anna Traquair, famous for her embroideries and murals, a room for artists from the 1920s. Works There would be new spaces dedicated to Raeburn, best known for his “skating minister” the Rev Dr Robert Walker on Duddingston Lock, and 20th-century Scottish artists such as Phoebe Anna Traquair, famous for her embroideries and murals.
The complex, due to open to the public in 2019, is the latest in a series of gallery refurbishments in the city.The complex, due to open to the public in 2019, is the latest in a series of gallery refurbishments in the city.
The National Galleries of Scotland gutted and rebuilt the portrait gallery’s gothic revival building near St Andrews Square, with a suite of new spaces, in 2011, while in the same year the National Museum of Scotland on Chamber Street was rebuilt internally with a new lower level public entrance and overhauled collections at a cost of £47m. The National Galleries of Scotland gutted and rebuilt the portrait gallery’s gothic revival building near St Andrew Square, with a suite of new spaces, in 2011, while in the same year, the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street was rebuilt internally with a new lower-level public entrance and overhauled collections, at a cost of £47m.
Soon to be demolished, the existing galleries were named concrete construction of the year when they opened in 1978. Despite facing Princes Street gardens, which link the city’s Old and New Towns, towards the Scott monument, Waverley station and the Firth of Forth, they were made with blacked-out windows. Soon to be demolished, the existing galleries were named concrete construction of the year when they opened in 1978. Despite facing Princes Street Gardens, which link the city’s old and new towns, towards the Scott Monument, Waverley station and the Firth of Forth, they were made with blacked-out windows.
They were, Leighton also admitted, known as the B Wing within the galleries. The basement site “was sometimes wrongly assumed to reflect this gallery’s attitude to our national school”. They were, Leighton said, known as the B wing within the galleries. The basement site “was sometimes wrongly assumed to reflect this gallery’s attitude to our national school”.