Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art collection of Alexander Macdonald, a local

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

merchant. The gallery is noted for its fine collection of modern Scottish and international art, including works by

Ken Currie Ken Currie (born 1960 in North Shields, Northumberland, England) is a Scottish artist and a graduate of Glasgow School of Art (1978–1983). Ken grew up in industrial Glasgow. This has had a significant influence on his early works. In the 19 ...

Gilbert & George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art du ...

Ivor Abrahams Ivor Abrahams (10 January 1935 – 6 January 2015) was a British sculptor, ceramicist and print maker best known for his polychrome sculptures and his stylised prints of garden scenes. His career long exploration of new subject matter, novel ...

, Bridget Riley and

Bruce McLean Bruce McLean (born 1944) is a Scottish sculptor, performance artist and painter. McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, from 1963 to 1966. At Saint Martin ...

History

Following a competition, the winning design by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie and James Matthews began construction in 1883 and was opened in 1885. There were further additions, again by Mackenzie, in 1901 and 1905, including the addition of a sculpture court. In April 2020, the gallery made 50 artworks available digitally via the Smartify app. In October 2020, Aberdeen Art Gallery was named one of the five winners of the 2020 ArtFund Museum of the Year Award. ArtFund increased the prize money to £200,000 and changed the format of the award to five winners in response to the challenges faced by the museum sector during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Collection

The Fine Arts collection of the Aberdeen Art Gallery has grown steadily since its foundation in 1885, highlighted with works by such artists as

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

and Renoir as well as more modern artists like

John Bulloch Souter John "Jack" Bulloch Souter (4 June 1890 – 10 May 1972), also known as J.B. Souter, was a Scottish painter, sculptor, and illustrator, best known for his Jazz Age-themed work '' The Breakdown''. Biography Born in Aberdeen in northeast Scot ...

, Ian Hamilton Finlay, and James McBey. The permanent collection includes 18th-century works by Henry Raeburn, William Hogarth,

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) or Allan Ramsay the Younger (1713–1784), Scottish portrait painter *Allan Ramsay (diplomat) (1937–2022), British diplom ...

and

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

, and 20th-century works by Paul Nash and

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

, the Post-Impressionists and the Scottish Colourists, as well as applied arts and crafts. File:Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) - The Watering Place - ABDAG003157 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) - The Watering Place File:Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) - The Stream - ABDAG003054 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg,

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...

(1819-1877) - The Stream File:Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) - Dahlias - ABDAG002546 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg,

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithography, lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodo ...

(1836-1904) - Dahlias File:Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892) - The Shepherdess - ABDAG002511 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg, Stanislas Lépine (1835-1892) - The Shepherdess File:Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1827-1906) - The Gleaner - ABDAG002172 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg, Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1827-1906) - The Gleaner File:Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) - Les bords du Loing, France - ABDAG003023 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg, Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) - Les bords du Loing, France File:Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867) - Un marais dans les Landes, France - ABDAG003933 - Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg,

Théodore Rousseau Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (April 15, 1812December 22, 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school. Life Youth He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family. At first he received a basic level of training, but soon displaye ...

(1812-1867) - Un marais dans les Landes, France

Building and renovations

The central hall is supported by

columns in a variety of colours, derived from different quarries in the local area and far beyond. At the western end of the building, with a room inside and a monument outside, is a major war memorial. The war memorial was built in the 1920s as a part of the rapid expansion of the Aberdeen Art Gallery and was funded by a public subscription. The Memorial Court court has a display of several books of remembrance and rolls of honour, commemorating the fallen of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets in World War II, and from conflicts after 1945. Another addition to the Gallery during this time of rapid expansion was Cowdray Hall. Cowdray Hall is a concert venue for music and performances and was opened by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary on 25 September 1925. The hall was supported by a gift from Annie, the Viscountess of Cowdray, "with a view to encouraging the taste for art and music in the City of Aberdeen". The Gallery was closed for a programme of renovations commencing in 2015. The £34.6 million redevelopment was designed by Hoskins Architects and carried out by the contractors

McLaughlin & Harvey McLaughlin & Harvey is a building and civil engineering firm founded in 1853. It operates all over UK and Ireland from its head offices located in Mallusk, just north of Belfast. History Henry McLaughlin and William Harvey first established ...

. The gallery re-opened in November 2019. The project won an award from the Scottish Civic Trust for making an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment, as well as the trust's National Panel Special Award. File:DSCF1805 War memoriial in Aberdeen Art Gallery.jpg, War Memorial (interior) File:Aberdeen War Memorial (53599387867).jpg, War Memorial (exterior)

References

External links

Aberdeen Art Gallery
{{authority control 1885 establishments in Scotland Art museums and galleries established in 1885 Art museums and galleries in Aberdeen Art museums and galleries in Scotland Culture in Aberdeen Museums in Aberdeen Decorative arts museums in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Aberdeen Listed museum buildings in Scotland Modern art museums Contemporary art galleries in Scotland Museum of the Year (UK) recipients

History

Collection

Building and renovations

See also

References

External links