Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Top Museums &
Monuments
Dean Gallery
Opened in 1999
across the road from the Scottish
National Gallery of Modern Art, the
Dean provides a home for surrealist
art and includes an exact replica of
the studio of Leith-born pop art pio-
neer Eduardo Paolozzi. He gave an
extensive body of his private collection to the National Galleries of Scotland, includ-
ing prints, drawings, plaster maquettes, and molds. The artist's mammoth composi-
tion of the robotic Vulcan dominates the entrance hall. Elsewhere works by Salvador
Dalí, Max Ernst, and Joan Miróare are displayed, while the Dean also hosts traveling
and special exhibitions of modern art.
73 Belford Rd.
&
0131/624-6200.
www.nationalgalleries.org. Free admission, except for some tempo-
rary exhibits. Daily 10am-5pm. Closed Dec 25-26. Bus: 13 or National Galleries shuttle.
The Fruitmarket Gallery
Near Waverley railway station, this is the city's leading
independent, contemporary art gallery housed in a cavernous old market dramati-
cally updated and modernized by architect Richard Murphy in the early 1990s. It
hosts exhibits from both local and internationally renowned modern and conceptual
artists, whether Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, and Yoko Ono—or Chad McCail
and Nathan Coley. The Fruitmarket's bookshop and cafe are equally appealing.
Across the street is the less innovative but still worthy city-run
City Art Centre
(2
Market St.;
&
0131/529-3993
).
45 Market St.
&
0131/225-2383.
www.fruitmarket.co.uk. Free admission. Mon-Sat 11am-6pm; Sun
noon-5pm. Closed Dec 25-27. Bus: 36.
National Gallery of Scotland
Although the fine-art collection held by
Scotland is small by the standards of larger countries, it has been chosen with great
care and expanded by bequests, gifts, loans, and purchases. There's only enough
space to display part of the entire collected works. One recent major acquisition was
Botticelli's
The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child.
The Duke of Sutherland
has lent the museum two Raphaels, two of Titian's
Diana
canvases, and
Venus Rising
from the Sea.
The gallery also has works by El Greco and Velázquez, and Dutch art
by Rembrandt and van Dyck.
Impressionism and post-Impressionism are represented by Cézanne, Degas, van
Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, and Seurat. In a basement wing (opened in 1978),
Scottish art is highlighted. Henry Raeburn is at his best in the whimsical
Rev. Robert
Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch,
while the late-19th-century Glasgow School is
represented by artists such as Sir James Guthrie.
Next door on the Mound is the
Royal Scottish Academy
(
&
0131/624-
6200
), now connected by the Weston Link, which opened in summer 2004. The
RSA was renovated and now hosts blockbuster exhibitions, such as works by Monet,
Titian, or the 20th-century virtuoso, Joan Eardley.
2 The Mound.
&
0131/624-6200.
www.nationalgalleries.org. Free admission, except for some tempo-
rary exhibits. Fri-Wed 10am-5pm (till 6pm Aug); Thurs 10am-7pm. Closed Dec 25-26. Bus: 23, 27, 41,
42, 45, or National Galleries shuttle.
A Note on Museum Hours
During the Edinburgh Festival, some
museums that are normally closed on a
Sunday will be open, and hours can be
generally longer. Some museums that
open only in summer are also open on
public holidays throughout the year.
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