Designed to spotlight Scottish art, the extension of the National Gallery of Scotland on the Mound has been revealed. The design is without spectacle; the extension is built within the existing framework of the galleries, underneath the original gallery, in the lining of Princes Street gardens. This low-key design accentuates features already present, the city’s green spaces and the original building’s neoclassical pillars. The gallery map directs you to ‘experience 150 years of the very best Scottish art,’ assertive and jubilant, the newly curated exhibition centres national pride. The new galleries take the visitor on a journey, not chronological but totally comprehensive, through Scottish art from 1800 to 1945.
The gallery space prioritises light, as large floor-to-ceiling windows frame views of the city alongside Edinburgh landscapes painted by James Peterson and Alexander Nasmyth. Many movements in Scottish art are represented. There is work by ‘The Four,’ made up of Glasgow artists Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald, Herbert MacNair, and Frances Macdonald. As well as work by The Scottish Colourists, The Glasgow Boys and Girls, works from the Celtic Revival, industrial cityscapes and majestic Highland landscapes, and work by individual masters like William McTaggart and Walter Scott. Perhaps one way to describe the breadth of the content of the galleries is to note how Scotland’s seasons are depicted in full from the two young girls lying on soft grass, playing with tiny daisies as lambs graze in the background in McTaggart’s Spring. James Guthrie visits the Clyde coast in the impressionistic Midsummer as three ladies sit with tea in a floral frame. William York Macgregor’s wintry, crisp still-life The Vegetable Stall shows a bare-bones wooden work table adorned with an earthy palette of root vegetables, punctuated by jewel-toned emerald cabbages and crimson rhubarb.
There are depictions of places all over the country; James Guthrie’s Oban was a particular favourite. A dusky esplanade is populated by loose figures, leading up to homes and buildings of similar low-light hues. With a lack of hard lines, the port cushions the sea which reflects moonlight; Whistler’s palette is used amply. The exhibition closes on the iconic Edwin Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen, originally exhibited in London and not in the hands of The National Galleries of Scotland until 2017, despite its prolific appearance as a cliché symbol of Scotland on many products such as shortbread and whiskey. The firm placing of the painting within, though at the end of this exhibition, shows an ability for Scotland to celebrate its national artistic identity while controlling its image.
The focus on Scottish art begs the question of what purpose national galleries are supposed to serve their country. Tourists are visiting England’s National Gallery to see van Gogh’s Sunflowers and the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. Do national galleries function to display the art created by the country or to display the art acquired by the country? The National Galleries of Scotland were concerned about how frequently visitors viewed their Scottish collection. The new galleries are faithful to the art’s Scottish origin. Still, they are open about the work’s inspiration and context, giving it a universal feel—particularly the Scottish Colourists with their travels to Europe and subsequent Impressionist influence. Francis Cadell sums this up with A Portrait of a Lady in Black, a scene of a woman at home in Edinburgh’s New Town, yet the painting graciously borrows Whistler’s composition and Cezanne’s Geometry.
The comparison to the National Gallery in London is regrettable, but it is necessary to see the success of the Scottish collection. The English National Gallery concerns itself with displaying highly sought-after works like Sunflowers, its most viewed piece online being the Arnolfini Portrait, showing a desire to purchase and display the most iconic paintings in its power. This certainly proves a desire for national pride, pride in wealth and ownership. The new extension of the Scottish National Gallery shows national pride in an educational, celebratory manner, filling rooms with light, views of the city- and great art.
“Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh” by dun_deagh is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.