The oldest privately-owned gallery in the UK, Edinburgh’s The Scottish Gallery, is celebrating its 180th anniversary in 2022. This important milestone really acts as a celebration of the accomplishments of the gallery team in the past few years
Located in the heart of the New Town, the historical and contemporary art gallery was acquired by its own staff through an employee ownership trust in 2019.
The gallery is paying homage this January to Guy Peploe’s sensational writing and introducing their new Senior Picture Specialist, Chris Brickley, who was head auctioneer and specialist at Bonhams Edinburgh.
Alongside traditional artwork, the gallery hosts an ongoing Modern Masters programme to celebrate both Scottish and international contemporary artists. Under Director Christina Jansen, the gallery’s focus on applied arts has thrived too, with ceramics, glassware and jewellery from a range of admired names.
The current Directors have also spoken of their efforts to champion female artists with a focus on Scottish female talent. The upcoming exhibition calendar features a strong 50:50 split of women to men, still an unusual ratio in the male-dominated visual arts world.
The anniversary year’s programme includes names such as Geoff Uglow, Claire Harkess, Helen Glassford and a memorial tribute to the late James Morrison which will take over the entire gallery in the summer.
