National Galleries Scotland announces new Scottish galleries will open their doors this September

The National Galleries of Scotland is delighted to announce that the stunning Scottish galleries at the National will open to the public on 30 September 2023. The new spaces will be home to key works from the nation’s historic Scottish art collection, offering more than double the physical display space and transforming the visitor experience. With ten displays in the new galleries, and new trails and activities on offer, everyone can look forward to experiencing the national collection of historic Scottish art like never before.

The vision for the project has been driven by an ambition to ensure that the greatest number of people can enjoy key works that tell the fascinating story of Scottish art. The new fully accessible galleries will be entered directly from the adjoining East Princes Street Gardens and are free for all to explore. Large windows will offer spectacular views over the city, enticing visitors to come in and discover the work of pioneering Scottish artists such as William McTaggart, Anne Redpath, Phoebe Anna Traquair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Boys.

Scotland’s artistic legacy will be brought to life through much-loved Scottish Colourist paintings among other major works from the first half of the twentieth century. New ways of looking at Scotland’s built and natural environments will be on offer, with early photographs of Scotland’s capital city shown in the same spaces as grand paintings of majestic Highland landscapes. Reimagined displays of drawings and sketches will celebrate artists such as Glasgow Style pioneer Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh and David Allan, whose depictions of ‘Edinburgh Characters’ will allow visitors to get up close to street life in the Scottish capital in the late eighteenth century.

The new Scottish galleries at the National include ten galleries at Gardens level and will be home to over 130 works of art. These bright, attractive spaces will showcase the magnificent collection of Scottish art in a series of new and engaging presentations. With even more to explore across the entire National, there will also be five new international hangs at the Mound level this summer, plus two additional Scottish displays, offering over 460 artworks to discover. This includes three areas specifically designed to display drawings and other fragile artworks that will regularly change throughout the year, increasing the overall offering at the National.

Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, Sir John Leighton, said: “This project has been driven by an ambition to transform the experience of visiting the National and to show the extraordinary collections of Scottish art with pride in beautiful, new, light-filled spaces. We believe that we have created a National Gallery that is more open, engaging and inviting than ever before. Whether immersing themselves in the highly Romantic paintings of the Scottish Highlands, taking part in a family day or just enjoying the views, all are welcome to come and discover. We are incredibly grateful to all our funders including the Scottish Government, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, key trusts and foundations, our Patrons, American Patrons and Friends as well as the many private individuals and donors who have been so generous in supporting this project.”

Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “The National Galleries of Scotland has the world’s finest collection of Scottish Art and I’m delighted that the new galleries will now have space to show this off to a wide national and international public. We have supported this redevelopment project from the start with a significant contribution of £15.25 million and it’s wonderful to see this will open soon so the public can enjoy these new galleries.”

Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Eilish McGuinness, said: “We are proud to have been part of the transformation of the National, which has been a source of inspiration and learning for over 150 years and holds a special place in the hearts of the Scottish people, and throughout the UK. Thanks to players of the National Lottery we have supported the project with a £6.89 million grant, from its earliest stages of planning, developing ideas and working with the team in delivering this complex and imaginative project. It’s exciting news that its now set to open its doors, inspiring generations to come, by offering a new perspective, doubling the gallery’s exhibition space, and improving access to its renowned collection of Scottish art. Having seen the project in its delivery I am now really looking forward to my first visit to the finished new gallery in September.”

The construction of the new galleries was one of the most complex engineering projects undertaken in a heritage building in Scotland; working within the constraints of a World Heritage site, above railways tunnels and excavating beneath a category-A listed building. Several issues were discovered when the 1970s building was fully stripped back to its core concrete structure. These included multiple instances of undocumented asbestos deposits which required safe removal; damp and water ingress issues which substantially changed the extent of the waterproofing requirements and undocumented obstructions including remnants from previous developments, which added significant complexity to the building work. Deeply buried layers of dense concrete had to be extracted, impacting on the sequencing of the works while managing the unique complexity of the engineering works. All these challenges were successfully overcome to create generous, high-quality new spaces for the world’s most important collection of historic Scottish art.

The total project cost is £38.62 million. This has been funded by major contributions from the Scottish Government (£15.25m) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund (£6.89 million). An extremely successful fundraising campaign raised over £16m thanks to an extraordinarily generous response in donations from trusts, foundations, Patrons, the National Galleries of Scotland’s Friends organisation, American Patrons and a wide range of private individuals.

Commenting on the success of the campaign, Sir John Leighton, said: “We are thrilled to report on the success of our fundraising campaign for this project. The strong and unwavering backing from Scottish Government and from The National Lottery Heritage Fund provided a really robust platform for our fundraising efforts and we were delighted by the generous response to this project by so many trusts, foundations and private individuals. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for their incredible support.”

While construction has been ongoing, a wide programme of engagement and outreach for the project has also been delivered. This has included activities in schools from Fife to Orkney and West Lothian, social groups for older people experiencing loneliness in Edinburgh, and youth groups in the Borders. This exciting programme of activity will continue to engage with communities after the opening. A series of engaging videos about star works of art from the Scottish collection has also been produced, and a painstaking monumental conservation project gripped online audiences during lockdown.

View a fly-through animation of the new Scottish galleries at the National and visit our website hub to discover more stories about the project, Celebrating Scotland’s Art: The new Scottish galleries at the National