Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland
28 June – 2 November 2014
Ross Sinclair, Real Life Rocky Mountain, 1996, installation view, CCA Glasgow. Courtesy of the artist.
Mon-Sun, 10am-6pm
Outside August: Mon-Sun, 10am-5pm
Free admission
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
John Ruskin: Artist and Observer
4 July – 28 September 2014
John Ruskin, Study of a Kingfisher, 1871, © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
John Ruskin (1819-1900) is renowned as the greatest British art critic of the 19th century and the champion of Turner, but his role as an artist remains relatively little known. He was however an outstanding draughtsman and watercolour painter, who took particular inspiration from the natural world and architectural subjects.
This exhibition illustrates, with the finest examples, the range and quality of his drawn and painted work. Gothic palaces in Venice, wild and spectacular Scottish and Alpine landscapes and minutely-defined and brilliantly-coloured birds and plants are highlights of the show. The works on display come from the key UK and US collections (both public and private), and the exhibition is a prestigious collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
It is especially fitting that John Ruskin: Artist and Observer should be showcased in Edinburgh, as Ruskin came from a Scottish family, visited Scotland many times, and was a passionate advocate for the beauty of its landscapes and literary heritage. Key episodes in his public and private life took place here.
Fri-Wed, 10am-6pm
Outside August: Mon-Sun, 10am-5pm
Thu, 10am-7pm
£8 (£6)
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
John Byrne: Sitting Ducks
14 June – 19 October 2014
John Byrne, Self Portrait on White, 2012 © Private Collection, courtesy Patrick Bourne & Co, London
John Byrne is one of Scotland’s most versatile and accomplished artists and writers. This exhibition explores and celebrates his highly innovative and richly varied portraiture. It includes drawings and paintings from across his career, depicting friends, family and famous sitters, such as Tilda Swinton and Billy Connolly. Byrne has also produced many insightful and witty self portraits, which form a strong element of the show – the first of his work to be mounted by the National Galleries of Scotland.
Organised in partnership with Inverness Museum & Art Gallery - part of High Life Highland.
Fri-Wed, 10am-5pm (6pm during August)
Thu, 10am-7pm
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street, EH2 1JD
0131 624 6200