Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Glasgow's grandest museum has a Spitfire dangling from the ceiling, a Dalí Christ bought for £8,200, and a myth about an architect that isn't true.
Published
Quick Facts
- Location
- Argyle Street, beside Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow's West End
- Opened
- 1901, during the Glasgow International Exhibition
- Architects
- John W. Simpson and E. J. Milner Allen
- Style
- Spanish Baroque with Scottish touches, in red sandstone
- Reopened
- July 2006, after a three-year refurbishment
- Star exhibits
- Dalí's Christ of St John of the Cross, a Spitfire, and Sir Roger the elephant
- Admission
- Free to enter
The museum with a Spitfire on the ceiling
Walk into the West Court and look up. A Supermarine Spitfire hangs in mid-air, banked as if it were turning over the heads of the crowd. It is LA198, a plane flown by Glasgow's own 602 Squadron. Nearby, heads float in a cluster above the visitors. They are part of Sophie Cave's 2006 installation, which went up when the building reopened. That is the Kelvingrove trick. It is a Victorian-era palace of culture, but it is playfully arranged. Stuffed animals, armour, paintings and aircraft share the same roof, and nobody seems to mind.
Built with help from the 1888 exhibition's profits
Glasgow in the late 19th century was one of the great industrial cities of the British Empire, and it liked to show off. The 1888 International Exhibition made a healthy profit, and that money helped pay for a grand new art gallery and museum. The building opened in 1901 as the centrepiece of the second great Glasgow exhibition, held in Kelvingrove Park. The design competition was won by John W. Simpson and E. J. Milner Allen, who produced a Spanish Baroque confection in red sandstone with towers, carvings and a vast central hall. The ambition was civic as much as artistic. Glasgow wanted a collection that ordinary people could walk into, and it still works that way today.
Did the architect really jump off a tower?
Every Glaswegian seems to know the story. The building, so it goes, was built back to front, the architect discovered his mistake, and he threw himself from a tower in despair. It isn't true. John W. Simpson lived on until 1933, long after the building opened. The confusion has a real source. The grand main entrance faces the park, while many visitors arrive from the Argyle Street side, so the building can feel as though it has its back to the road. The tale grew from that, but it is a myth.
The Dalí that Glasgow bought for a song
In 1952 Glasgow bought Salvador Dalí's Christ of St John of the Cross for £8,200. The price was criticised at the time, because it was a lot of money for a painting by a living surrealist. The deal included the copyright, and reproductions have since earned back far more than the purchase price. Its view of Christ is from high above, looking down at a figure floating over a Scottish-looking loch with fishing boats on the shore. The painting has been loved, argued over and, in 1961, attacked by a visitor. It was restored, and it remains one of the most popular pictures in Britain. It hangs among a collection that also includes Rembrandt's A Man in Armour, French Impressionists, and the Glasgow Boys, a group of Scottish painters who made their name in the 1880s.
What to look out for when you visit
Start in the central hall, where an organ built for the 1901 exhibition still fills the space with music. Recitals there are a Kelvingrove tradition. Then head to the Mackintosh displays. Glasgow's most famous designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is well represented, with furniture and interiors that show why he is so admired. Don't miss the natural history galleries, where Sir Roger the elephant is a favourite with children. And before you leave, step outside and look back at the towers and carvings. In Glasgow, it is the building as much as the contents that makes the visit.
Notable people
- John W. Simpson
- E. J. Milner Allen
- Salvador Dalí
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh
- Sophie Cave