National Galleries of Scotland Forthcoming Exhibitions 2009

NATIONAL GALLERIES OF SCOTLAND FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS 2009

Please find below programme of exhibitions and displays for the coming months.
NOTES: Current as of January 2009. General opening hours:

National Gallery of Scotland Complex / Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Monday-Sunday           10am-5pm Except Thursday         10am-7pm Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art / Dean Gallery
                                        Monday-Sunday           10am-5pm

FOUR SCOTTISH PAINTERS: BARNS-GRAHAM, BELLANY, DAVIE AND REDPATH 4 October 2008 -  28 June 2009 DEAN GALLERY, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR, 0131 624 6200 Admission free This new display of work concentrates
on four pivotal Scottish artists of the post-Second World War period
taken from the Gallery of Modern Art's permanent collection.  All
students of Edinburgh College of Art, Anne Redpath
(1895-1965), Alan Davie (b.1920), Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004)
and John Bellany (b.1942) were centrally engaged with the development
of painting in Britain in this period. This is a chance to see the work
of some of the most influential figures in British
art of the second half of the twentieth-century.
 
 

The Intimate portrait: Drawings, Miniatures and Pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence 25 October 2008 - 1 February 2009 Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD Admission free The first ever major UK exhibition to
examine a fascinating but relatively unknown aspect of British
portraiture will open at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery this
autumn.  The Intimate Portrait will explore the
period between the 1730s and the 1830s - the heyday of British
portraiture - when some of the country's greatest artists produced
beautifully worked portraits in pencil, chalks, watercolours and
pastels, as well as miniatures on ivory, that were often exhibited,
sold and displayed as finished works of art.  Jointly organised by the
National Galleries of Scotland and the British Museum, this exhibition
of nearly 200 works will draw upon the superb (and largely unexplored)
holdings of intimate portrait drawings in the
collections of both institutions, as well as upon important private
collections that have been placed on long-term loan at the Portrait
Gallery.  Highlights will include masterpieces by Allan Ramsay, Thomas
Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Lawrence and
David Wilkie.  The exhibition will travel to the British Museum in London during spring 2009.

PORTRAIT OF THE NATION 14 November 2008 - 31 March 2009 Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD Admission free This exhibition will describe Portrait of the Nation, the National Galleries of Scotland's major capital project.  The exhibition will show how Portrait of the Nation will transform the Scottish National Portrait
Gallery with much more space and many more works of art on display. The
Gallery closes to the public on April 5 2009 for two-and-a-half years
and will reopen in November 2011.  During the period of closure every
portrait will be removed for safety, the staff
will be relocated and parts of the collection will be displayed in
venues round Scotland and abroad.  The exhibition will examine the
logistics of this large and complicated project and will give an idea
of what the gallery will be like when it reopens.
 
 

DUTCH MANNERISM 22 November 2008 - 8 February 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL Admission free This display focuses on two major
acquisitions made by the National Gallery in recent years: Abraham
Bloemaert's splendid painting Miracle of the Loaves, and Hendrick Goltzius' extraordinary drawing of a Man with
a Tassled Cap
.
Both are outstanding examples of so called "Dutch Mannerism". Goltzius,
as the most important artist of this generation, is represented with a
range of impressive drawings and engravings. Around these masterpieces
will be shown a selection
of fine graphic art by his contemporaries, Jacob Matham, Pieter
Saenredam, and Jacques de Gheyn. This display highlights little known
treasures of the collection and celebrates the dawn of the Golden Age
of Dutch Art.

PARALLEL LIVES 2: SEE THE FUTURE 6th November 2008 - 18th January 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL Admission free Parallel Lives 2 is a project
which aims to make key works in the National Galleries of Scotland
collection directly relevant to communities living in Edinburgh today.
Three different communities, Leith, Wester Hailles
and North Edinburgh were allocated an artwork from the national
collection and an artist to facilitate the production of new art in
collaboration with people from that area. The ideas behind the works of
art that the groups create were fed back into their communities
through the Neighbourhood Partnerships in the local areas. The project
has been running since March 2008 and the finished works will be shown
in an exhibition in National Galleries of Scotland in November 2008.
 
 

CHARLES AVERY THE ISLANDERS: AN INTRODUCTION 29 November 2008 - 15 February 2009 SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR Admission free Sponsored by the Friends and by the Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland Charles Avery - The Islanders: An Introduction has been organised by Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London. A new exhibition of work by one of
the most imaginative, thought-provoking and highly regarded Scottish
artists to emerge in the last decade will be a highlight of this year's
winter programme at the Scottish National Gallery
of Modern Art.  Organised in collaboration with Parasol unit, in
London, The Islanders: An Introduction is
the latest instalment in an epic, ten-year project which describes
through text, drawings, objects and installations, the topology,
cosmology and
inhabitants of an imaginary island.  Inspired by his upbringing on the
island of Mull - and by time spent in Rome, and Hackney - this
exhibition brings together previously exhibited and new works,
including the Scottish premiere of the sculptural installation The
Plane of the Gods,
purchased by the National Galleries of Scotland in 2007. 
Also on display are several new works, including a large taxidermy
sculpture of a fearsome 'Ridable', an animal which inhabits the Island,
and a huge
wall map detailing the Island's territory.  Charles
Avery was born in Oban in 1973 and is based in London. In 2007, he was
selected with five other artists to represent Scotland at the 52nd
Venice Biennale, as part of the
Scotland and Venice exhibition. Working across a range of media, this
exhibition presents a complex fusion of philosophical enquiry and
playfully inventive characterisation, executed with a distinctive and
commanding style.

CONTEMPORARY ART IN SCOTLAND: NEW LOANS AND NEW ACQUISITIONS 29 November 2008 - 15 February 2009 SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR Admission free An
exhibition showcasing new and recent work by Scottish artists or
artists resident in Scotland goes on show at the Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art this winter. Featuring the work
of Karla Black, Duncan Campbell, Douglas Gordon, Scott Myles and Cathy
Wilkes, Contemporary Art in Scotland presents different aspects of new art in Scotland - from the abstract
to the figurative; from the politically motivated to the critically
self-aware.
This exhibition demonstrates the strength of art in Scotland and
Scottish art today.
 

QUEEN AND COUNTRY 3 December 2008 - 15 February 2009 SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR Admission free The Art Fund, the UK's leading art charity brings Queen and Country, by official
war artist Steve McQueen, to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern
Art. The work commemorates British servicemen and women
who have been killed in Iraq.  Queen and Country is a
collaboration between the Turner Prize winning artist and 136 families
of the deceased, including many from Scotland. Displayed within a large
oak cabinet, facsimile postage stamp sheets feature portraits,
chosen by the families, of those who have been killed in the conflict
so far.  The Art Fund is spearheading the campaign to persuade Royal
Mail to issue the images as real stamps - the artist believes the work
is incomplete until this has been achieved.  Queen
and Country
is on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art as part of
the campaign. Visitors to the exhibition can sign the Art Fund's
petition or can do so online now at www.artfund.org/queenandcountry

ARTISTS BOOKS: THE SCOTTISH CONTRIBUTION 20 December 2008 - February 2009 DEAN GALLERY, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR Admission free To accompany the permanent collection exhibition, Four Scottish Painters,
the next display in the Keiller Library will focus on books by Scottish
artists.  Drawn from the Gallery of Modern Art's superb collection of
artists' books, the display will include work by William Johnstone
working with Hugh MacDiarmid and Edwin Muir, John Bellany with Alan
Bold and Bruce McLean with Mel Gooding.

TURNER IN JANUARY 1 - 31 January 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL Admission free The New Year begins at the National
Gallery of Scotland with its annual display of thirty-eight magnificent
watercolours by J M W Turner (1775-1851), bequeathed in 1900 by the
London art collector Sir Henry Vaughan. Turner
is recognised as perhaps the greatest of all British painters, and was
a master of watercolour painting, using the medium to create stunning
land and seascapes, topographical views and designs for book
illustrations.  The Vaughan Bequest display is shown throughout
January every year, and has been a popular feature of the Gallery's
exhibition calendar for more than one hundred years.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF COLLECTING, TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY 14 February - 19 April 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL Admission free This small exhibition will
demonstrate the wealth of Scottish photography - both historic and
modern - that has been collected for the nation in the last twenty-five
years.  The Scottish National Photography Collection was
established by the National Galleries in 1984, in recognition of the
impressive Scottish contribution to the art-form.  Its remit is to
collect, research and exhibit photography, and to produce publications
on the subject, with a Scottish bias to its energies. 
The exhibition will highlight a selection of xx works, chosen from the
impressive holdings in the Collection, which illustrate three broad
themes: People; Land and Stone; and Staged and Constructed
To coincide with exhibition, there will
a conference on 28 March, when the newly-revised edition of The
Companion Guide to Photography in the National Galleries of Scotland
will be published.

TURNER AND ITALY 27 March - 7 June 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Admission £8 (£6 concessions) This major exhibition next spring at
the National Gallery of Scotland will celebrate the love affair between
the artist J. M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Italy. Turner and Italy sets out to explore this complex and enduring
relationship, and show how Turner became enchanted by the country's
climate, landscapes and architecture; drawing inspiration from them he
created some of the greatest images of Romantic art.  The exhibition
will include over 100 works, including oil paintings,
watercolours, sketchbooks, and books from Turner's library which
illustrate his fascination with Italy. Spectacular loans from
collections in Washington, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Paris and London
will feature in the exhibition. It has been created by the National
Gallery of Scotland and will travel on an international tour to Italy
and Hungary; Edinburgh will, however, be the only UK venue.

THE DISCOVERY OF SPAIN BRITISH ARTISTS AND COLLECTORS: GOYA TO PICASSO 18 July 2009 - 11 October 2009 NATIONAL GALLERY COMPLEX, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Admission to be confirmed This major exhibition will be a
spectacular celebration of Spanish culture, as seen through the eyes of
British artists and collectors.  It will encompass the period from 1800
to the 1930s - from the age of Goya to that of
Picasso.  Spain is now a familiar and much-loved part of the British
view of Europe, but in the eighteenth century it was relatively little
known.  The Discovery of Spain will explore the process by which this changed, and convey the
excitement of the
era when the country's architecture, customs, fashions and painting
were gradually ‘discovered' by artists and collectors, and created a
sensation in Britain.  Highlights will include the work of the Spanish
masters Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo, Zurbaran, Goya
and Picasso, and the British artists David Wilkie, David Roberts, John
Frederick Lewis, John Phillip, Arthur Melville and David Bomberg. Loans
are to include important works from the Royal Collection, the National
Gallery, London, Tate and other distinguished
public and private collections across the UK.  There will be over 130
works on show, including oil paintings, watercolours, drawings and
prints.  The Discovery of Spain can only be seen in Edinburgh, during the 2009 International Festival.
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For further information on any of
these exhibitions go to
www.nationalgalleries.org