Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Along with The Burrell Collection
(see below), the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum presents the stirring soul of
the city's art collection, one of the best amassed by a municipality in Europe.
Reopened in 2006 after a 3-year and several-million-pound refurbishment, the Kelv-
ingrove can boast that it is the most visited gallery and museum in Scotland—the
most popular in the U.K. outside of London. The space features French impression-
ists and 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings. One painting of particular note
is
Christ of St. John the Cross
by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. Other highlights
include paintings by the Scottish Colourists and the Glasgow Boys, a wing devoted
to Mackintosh, as well as more recent art by Anne Redpath and Joan Eardley. But
there is more than art, with exhibits on Scottish and Glasgow history, armory and
war, as well as natural history and nature—often mixing to good educational effect,
for example showing how human armor copied the natural protection of some ani-
mals, such as the armadillo. There are plenty of interactive displays and touches of
humor, too. The building itself, built for the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition,
is magnificent, as well. There is a new cafe/restaurant in the semi-basement.
Argyle St.
&
0141/276-9599.
www.glasgowmuseums.com. Free admission, except for some tempo-
rary exhibits. Mon-Thurs and Sat 10am-5pm; Fri and Sun 11am-5pm. Underground: Kelvinhall. Bus: 9,
16, 18A, 42, or 62.
Southside
The Burrell Collection
This custom-built museum houses many of the
9,000 treasures left to Glasgow by Sir William Burrell, a wealthy ship owner and
industrialist who had a lifelong passion for art and artifacts. He started collecting at
age 14 and only stopped when he died at the age of 96 in 1958. His tastes were
eclectic: Chinese ceramics, French paintings from the 1800s, tapestries, stained-
glass windows from churches, even stone doorways from the Middle Ages. Here you
can see a vast aggregation of furniture, textiles, ceramics, stained glass, silver, art
objects, and pictures. Ancient artifacts, Asian art, and European decorative arts and
paintings are featured. It is said that the collector “liked just about everything,” and
landed one of the very few original bronze casts of Rodin's
The Thinker.
From Sir
William's home, Hutton Castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, the dining room, hall, and
drawing room have also been reconstructed and furnished here. There is a cafe on
site, and you can roam through surrounding Pollok Country Park, some 5km (3
miles) south of the River Clyde.
Nearby
Pollok House
(
&
0141/616-6521
) dates to the 18th century. Now
managed by the National Trust for Scotland on behalf of Glasgow, it features interi-
ors as they were in the Victorian/Edwardian era. Open daily with an admission of £8
for adults.
Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Rd.
&
0141/287-2550.
www.glasgowmuseums.com. Free
admission. Mon-Thurs and Sat 10am-5pm; Fri and Sun 11am-5pm. Train: Pollokshaws West. Bus: 45 or 57.
Holmwood House
This villa, designed by Alexander “Greek” Thomson
and built in 1858, is probably the best example of his innovative style as applied to
stately Victorian homes. Magnificently original, its interior restoration (which is
ongoing) has revealed that the architect was apparently concerned with almost every
element of the house's design, right down to the wallpaper and painted friezes. Now
operated by the National Trust for Scotland, visitors have access to most parts of the
