Love culture? Love art galleries? Then you are in for a treat in Scotland.
Forget all the old cliches about Scotland with tartan and shortbread. This vibrant Celtic tinged nation these days is alive with great art galleries, with everything on offer from world class galleries crammed full of European Old Masters, through to cutting edge temples dedicated to modern art in its myriad forms.
I’ve just put together a guide to my favourite Top 10 Art Galleries in Scotland. It is for the ace Pearlshare App, which you can use on an iPad or iPhone. I use it on my travels. There are lot of things I really like about it – it is easy to use, you can add your own ‘pearls’ of wisdom and also put together your own bespoke guides. All for free! For a link to all my Pearlshare guides just click here.
If you go to Pearlshare you can read my full top 10. To whet your appetite below if a wee taste of 5 of my favourites. Enjoy visiting these glorious artistic temples!
Scottish National Gallery – This landmark neoclassical dame right in the heart of Edinburgh makes an equally bold statement inside. You can find a swathe of European Masters gloriously on display alongside a plethora of more homegrown talent like Henry Raeburn.
National Gallery of Modern Art – Split across two spectacular buildings that lie within close proximity to each other. It’s all here from the epic works of Miro, through to the seminal output and the old studio of local talent Eduardo Paolozzi. My Pearlshare guide covers both of these galleries separately, so it’s more of top 11 than top 10!
Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art– There is an outcry when anyone is foolish enough to try to take the traffic cone off the top of this equestrian statue outside this beloved temple to modern art. That gives you some idea of both its irreverent nature and the esteem in which Glaswegians hold it.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum – Gloriously Glasgow and gloriously Scottish. It’s all here from exhibits on distant St Kilda, through to the remarkable designs of local luminary Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
V&A Dundee – Ok, so it’s open yet, but it is coming soon and will be truly epic. I’ve had dinner with the director and he has really fired up my enthusiasm for what will be a world class attraction right on Dundee’s revamped waterfront.
