Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
he Gallery is housed in two impressive Neoclassical buildings recently renamed
Modern One
and
Modern Two
, while its grounds serve as a
sculpture park
, featuring
works by Richard Long, Henry Moore, Rachel Whiteread and, most strikingly, Charles
Jencks, whose prize-winning
Landform
, a swirling mix of ponds and grassy mounds,
dominates the area in front of Modern One.
he art collection here has a strong Scottish contingent with a particularly fine body
of works from the early twentieth-century
Colourists
- a term attributed to the
Scots-born painters of the era who spent enough time in France to soak up some
post-Impressionist ideas and blend them with Scottish painting traditions. Fluid paint
handling and vivid colours characterize the works you're likely to encounter from the
leading figures of the movement, such as Samuel Peploe, John Duncan Fergusson and
Leslie Hunter. he collection's
international works
from the same period feature
crowd-pleasing names like Matisse and Picasso while Hockney, Warhol and Freud form
the backbone of a solid postwar catalogue.
More recently the gallery has picked up a considerable collection of
contemporary
material from living British exponents of modern art such as Damien Hirst, Tracey
Emin and David Hockney.
1
Modern One
he more cutting-edge of the two sister galleries,
Modern One
draws on the Gallery's
enviable collection to bolster the themes of the temporary exhibits on show. he recent
“Death to Death and Other Small Tales” exhibition was no exception: Picasso's
Nu Assis
(“seated nude”) was one of a number pulled from the vaults to shore up this carnal
compilation that toyed with ideas of necrosis, eroticism and afterlife.
he building is divided into twenty-two exhibition spaces spread over two floors,
with a good mix of audiovisual and sculpture art complementing the main
exhibition, while on the ground floor there's a café with sun terrace and a well-
stocked book and gift shop.
Modern Two
Just across Belford Road from Modern One,
Modern Two
, originally an orphanage, has
been dramatically refurbished specifically to make room for the work of Edinburgh-
born sculptor
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi
, described by some as the father of Pop Art. he
collection, partly a gift from the artist himself, who died in 2005, includes some three
thousand sculptures, two thousand prints and drawings and three thousand books.
here's an awesome introduction to Paolozzi's work in the form of the huge
Vulcan
, a
half-man, half-machine which squeezes into the Great Hall immediately opposite the
main entrance - view it both from ground level and the head-height balcony to
appreciate the sheer scale of the piece. No less indicative of Paolozzi's dynamic creative
talents are the rooms to the right of the main entrance, where his London studio has
been expertly re-created, right down to the clutter of half-finished casts, toys and empty
pots of glue. Elsewhere in the gallery, a selection of his sculptures and drawings are
exhibited in a more traditional manner. he rooms upstairs are normally given over to
special and touring exhibitions, which usually carry an entrance charge.
Dean Village
From Princes St, take bus #19, #37 or #113 and alight before Dean bridge; Dean Village is a 10min walk down Miller Row, the lane
immediately before the bridge
Less than half a mile from Princes Street's west end is the old milling community of
Dean Village
, one of central Edinburgh's most picturesque yet unexpected corners, its
atmosphere of decay arrested by the conversion of numerous granaries and tall mill
buildings into designer flats. Nestling close to the river, with steep banks rising up on
both sides, the Victorian community has a self-contained air, its surviving features
