Exhibitions
Events/Talks/Lectures
Special Events
Granton Centre for Art - Guided Tours
The tour offers an opportunity to discover how a state-of-the-art picture and sculpture store actually works, and what really goes on at the National Galleries of Scotland. Duration 30 minutes. Transport - Lothian buses 8 or 16.
more- 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2008
- 12 noon & 3.30pm every Tuesday (advance booking essential)
Communities
Tours of Tracey Emin
Free introductory tours of Tracey Emin for community groups. Please book at least two weeks in advance.
more- 1st September to 9th November 2008
- By arrangement.
Communities
Tours of Impressionism & Scotland
Free introductory tours of Impressionism & Scotland for community groups. Please book at least two weeks in advance.
more- 1st September to 12th October 2008
- By arrangement
Communities
Signed tour of Tracey Emin for people who are Deaf
Free introductory tours of Tracey Emin for community groups. Please book at least two weeks in advance.
more- Sunday, 12th October 2008
- 11am-12noon
Children & Families
The Big Draw 2008
Free drawing activities for all ages, inspired by the displays, led by artists Louise Fraser, Juliana Capes and Lindsey Hamilton.
more- Sunday, 12th October 2008
- 1.30-4.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Modern Intimacy: Gustav Klimt’s Pregnant Woman with Man
Daniel Herrmann, Curator of the Paolozzi Collection at the Gallery of Modern Art, explores the Viennese artist’s master drawing. A highlight in the Gallery of Modern Art's collection of works on paper.
more- Monday, 13th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Hero or Heroine? Caroline Norton’s Appeal to Justice
Celebrated author Teresa Ransom gives a talk on Caroline Sheriden Norton, 1808-1877 who features in the Heroes exhibition at the Portrait Gallery. Her role in reforming the laws for women has been largely unsung, as she fought a trail-blazing battle to get the ‘non-existent’ status of married women changed. Teresa Ramson's previous books include Fanny Trollope: A Remarkable Woman; Madame Tussaud: A Life and a Time and Prunella, the Authorised Biography of Prunella Scales.
more- Tuesday, 14th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Special Events
Live Music Now: Michael Haywood and Laura Grime
Michael Haywood (sax and clarinet) and Laura Grime (fiddle and keyboard) present a varied programme of music on a landscape theme including traditional Scottish and self-composed songs influenced from folk, jazz and world genres.
more- Thursday, 16th October 2008
- 6-6.30pm
Talks & Lectures
High Drama in the Canongate, 1747-1765
Dr Joe Rock looks at the fascinating early history of the theatre in Edinburgh to tie in with the Footlights display of prints and drawings.
more- Friday, 17th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Special Events
The Bridgewater Loan. One Collection. One Chance.
The Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland are delighted to present a fundraising lecture in support of the Titian Fund. Michael Clarke, Director of the National Gallery of Scotland, will give a lecture on the Bridgewater Loan and the Titian paintings. The Bridgewater Loan consists of 27 works including paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Poussin and Raphael. The National Galleries of Scotland has formed a partnership with the National Gallery in London in an effort to acquire these paintings for the nation. Tickets for this unique event are available by calling the Friends Office on 0131 624 6279 or by visiting the Information Desk at the Weston Link. This special Friends lecture is open to everyone.
more- Saturday, 18th October 2008
- 2-3pm
Talks & Lectures
Tours of Tracey Emin: October
Join Juliana Capes for an introductory tour of the exhibition which will be suitable for people who speak English as a Second Language.
more- Sunday, 19th October 2008
- 2.30-3.15pm; 3.30-4.15pm
Children & Families
Bags of Art in October
Collect a bag of new activities from the Art Station at the top of the stairs to help your family explore the collection and create your own artwork. Supported by Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland.
more- Sunday, 19th October 2008
- 2-4pm
Courses
Words on Canvas - 20 October 2008
Come and join this recently formed creative writing group who meet fortnightly. Sessions alternate between exploring parts of the collection for inspiration and then sharing writing created as a result. Expert help from artists and writers is available. All levels of experience welcome.
more- Monday, 20th October 2008
- 10.30am-12.30pm
Talks & Lectures
‘This is not a natural wilderness’
Dr Patricia Macdonald, artist-photographer and Lecturer in Cultural Landscape in the School of Arts, Culture and Environment, University of Edinburgh, discusses some recent trends in environmental imagery from Scotland and elsewhere
more- Tuesday, 21st October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Children & Families
Mid-term Emin Workshop
Ages 16-18. Using Tracey Emin's autobiographical work as a starting point for developing a personal art project using mixed media. This workshop, led by Juliana Capes, will be useful for portfolio preparation.
more- Wednesday, 22nd October 2008
- 10am-4pm
Talks & Lectures
Europe’s Landscape in Flux
Award-winning Magnum photographer, Stuart Franklin, captures Europe’s changing landscape through his stunning photography and considers the challenges of representing change. Vulnerability to climate change and questions of sustainability are underlying themes. Here, he talks about his new book, Footprint: Our Landscape in Flux (Thames and Hudson 2008), in this illustrated lecture.
more- Wednesday, 22nd October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Children & Families
Mid-term Workshop
Ages 8-12 years. Mid-term workshop, inspired by the collection-displays at Belford Road.
more- Thursday, 23rd October 2008
- 10am-4pm
Talks & Lectures
Closets, Cabinets and ‘in my Lady’s Chamber’? The Place of Portrait Drawings in Britain in the Long 18th Century
The British love affair with portraiture in miniature, pastels and oils from the time of Hilliard to Hoppner is renowned. But the walls of the Royal Academy and, indeed certain rooms in people’s houses, were also covered with framed portrait drawings - in pencil, chalk or watercolour. Dr Kim Sloan, Curator of British Drawings and Watercolours at the British Museum, will give a brief introduction to this aspect of the Intimate Portraits exhibition, focusing on some of the highlights and exploring the ways in which artists examined their own character, informally recorded their friends and family or were commissioned to capture the faces and fashions of the time.
more- Friday, 24th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Talks & Lectures
The SSHoP Annual Photographer's Lecture: Hannah Starkey
The Scottish Society for the History of Photography's annual lecture welcomes Hannah Starkey, one of the most influential photographic artists working today. A graduate of Napier University and the Royal College of Art, she has exhibited internationally and gained numerous high profile awards including the John Kobal Portrait Award. Her beautifully constructed mise en scenes often suggest transient moments of ennui and quiet drama, usually within the everyday life of women. A major retrospective Photographs 1997-2007, has recently been published by Steidl.
more- Friday, 24th October 2008
- 6-7.30pm
Special Events
National Gallery Highlights October Tour
National Gallery Highlights tour including the Titian paintings Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto and other parts of The Bridgewater Collection.
more- Saturday, 25th October 2008
- 2-2.45pm & 3-3.45pm
Talks & Lectures
Tracey Emin: 20 Years - Curator's Tour
Another chance to join Patrick Elliott, Senior Curator at the Gallery of Modern Art, on a tour of the Tracey Emin exhibition.
more- Monday, 27th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm - Limited Places
Talks & Lectures
The Royal Museum Project: A New Vision for the National Museum of Scotland
Stephen Allen, Head of Learning & Programmes, NMS, outlines the exciting plans for the £48m redevelopment of the Royal Museum building at the National Museum of Scotland, due for completion in 2011.
more- Tuesday, 28th October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Talks & Lectures
The Trials of Francisco Goya: An Artist’s Vision of the 1808 War
Throughout his drawings, paintings and prints, Goya returns to one particular subject: men and women on trial, imprisoned, punished, condemned; people who are subjected to judgment and punishment by the legal system, the State, the Inquisition or a mob. Dr Sarah Symmons, writer and art historian, examines how such persecuted individuals became very real to Goya during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814) when collaborators and guerrilla fighters were subjected to summary justice. After the war, Goya himself was tried by an official ‘process’ and forced to undergo political purification. How did this affect his art? With large oil paintings such as the Second of May and Third of May 1808, Goya asserted his loyalty to the victorious Spanish state, but his more subversive prints, The Disasters of War, suggest something rather different. Sarah Symmons is a writer and art historian who has published four books about Goya, the most recent being Goya: A Life in Letters (Pimlico, London 2004). She has also published biographies of the British sculptor, John Flaxman, and the French draughtsman and caricaturist, Honoré Daumier, as well as three novels under the pseudonym Natalya Lowndes. She is Reader in Art History at the University of Essex. Supported by the Consulate General of Spain in Edinburgh and the University of Stirling.
more- Tuesday, 28th October 2008
- 6-7.15pm
Talks & Lectures
Tracey Emin: 'A raving, hard-core expressionist'
Tim Marlow, Director of exhibitions at White Cube and award-winning radio and television broadcaster, gives a talk on the work of Tracey Emin.
more- Wednesday, 29th October 2008
- 6.30-7.30pm
Special Events
Live Music Now: Sax Ecosse Duo
Karen Dufour (tenor saxophone) and Michelle Melvin (alto saxophone) perform a programme of music inspired by the Footlights exhibition.
more- Thursday, 30th October 2008
- 6-6.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Poussin's Seven Sacraments
Fabio Barry, Lecturer in the History of Art at the University of St Andrews, analyses and elucidates the sympbolism in Nicolas Poussin's series of paintings of the seven Sacraments, a key part of the Bridgewater Loan.
more- Friday, 31st October 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Two Masterpieces, One Chance: Titian Panel Discussion
An exciting line-up of speakers, including the artist Alison Watt, present their ideas on why it is so important that the National Galleries’ Titian paintings remain in the UK.
more- Friday, 31st October 2008
- 6-7.15pm
Children & Families
Saturday Studio - Tracey Emin - Week 1
Ages 11-15 years. Using Tracey Emin's autobiographical work as a starting point for developing a personal art project using mixed media; course led by Juliana Capes.
more- Saturday, 1st November 2008
- 1.30-4.30pm
Children & Families
Art Cart in November
Art activities for all the family inspired each month by different works from the collection. Supported by Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland.
more- 1st to 2nd November 2008
- 2-4pm
Special Events
Portrait of the Month for November
Meet one of the many faces in the Portrait Gallery's collection in these monthly talks focusing on a different portrait each month.
more- Saturday, 1st November 2008
- 2-2.45pm & 3-3.45pm
Children & Families
Saturday Art Club - Intimate Portrait Week 1
Ages 5-11 years. Intimate Portrait led by Jennie Temple.
more- Saturday, 1st November 2008
- 10am–12noon (ages 5–7); 1.30–3.30pm (ages 8–11)
Courses
Writing for a Day at the National Gallery
Inspired by works of art from the collection, an opportunity to develop a piece of creative writing over a full day with expert guidance from creative writing tutor Helen Boden.
more- Saturday, 1st November 2008
- 10.30am-4.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Tours of Tracey Emin: November
Join Juliana Capes for an introductory tour of the exhibition which will be suitable for people who speak English as a Second Language.
more- Sunday, 2nd November 2008
- 2.30-3.15pm; 3.30-4.15pm
Courses
Words on Canvas - 3 November 2008
Come and join this recently formed creative writing group who meet fortnightly. Sessions alternate between exploring parts of the collection for inspiration and then sharing writing created as a result. Expert help from artists and writers is available. All levels of experience welcome.
more- Monday, 3rd November 2008
- 10.30am-12.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Research Insights: Renting Domestic Furnishings in Early Modern Venice
Part of a series of free talks in relation to Venice and Venetian Art by Patricia Allerston, Head of Education, National Galleries of Scotland.
more- Tuesday, 4th November 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Communities
Tracey Emin for the Visually Impaired
Descriptive tour and practical workshop led by Juliana Capes and Jennie Temple.
more- Wednesday, 5th November 2008
- 10am-3.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Heroes and Role Models
David McClay, Senior John Murray Archive Curator at the National Library of Scotland, gives an illustrated talk on the internationally successful works of Samuel Smiles, who turned biography and self-help literature into an inspirational and instructional literature.
more- Wednesday, 5th November 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Children & Families
Saturday Studio - Tracey Emin - Week 2
Ages 11-15 years. Using Tracey Emin's autobiographical work as a starting point for developing a personal art project using mixed media; course led by Juliana Capes.
more- Saturday, 8th November 2008
- 1.30-4.30pm
Special Events
Gallery of Modern Art November Highlights Tour
A tour of the Gallery of Modern Art's permanent collection which spans the period from the 1890s to the present day.
more- Saturday, 8th November 2008
- 2-2.45pm & 3-3.45pm
Children & Families
Saturday Art Club - Intimate Portrait Week 2
Ages 5-11 years. Intimate Portrait led by Jennie Temple.
more- Saturday, 8th November 2008
- 10am–12noon (ages 5–7); 1.30–3.30pm (ages 8–11)
Communities
Tours of Gerhard Richter
Free introductory tours of Gerhard Richter for community groups. Please book at least two weeks in advance.
more- 8th November to 30th December 2008
- By arrangement
Children & Families
Weekend Workshop: Gerhard Richter Part 1
Ages 16-18 years. A two-day painting course inspired by Gerhard Richter.
more- Sunday, 9th November 2008
- 10am-4pm
Talks & Lectures
Gerhard Richter: Curator's Tour
Keith Hartley, Chief Curator at the Gallery of Modern Art, gives a tour of the Gerhard Richter exhibition.
more- Monday, 10th November 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Talks & Lectures
Education Insights: Parallel Lives 2
Robin Baillie, Senior Outreach Officer at the National Galleries of Scotland, provides an insight into the outreach exhibition, Parallel Lives 2, which features work by three communities in Edinburgh.
more- Tuesday, 11th November 2008
- 12.45-1.30pm
Courses
Gerhard Richter in Context - Week 1
This short course will provide an opportunity to explore some key aspects of Gerhard Richter's immensely varied work. Two lectures will focus on his practice in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, examining in particular the ways in which Richter's work can be read in the context of post-war Germany. A final session will then take place within the Gerhard Richter exhibition, allowing for a closer look at some of his most important, intriguing and challenging work. The course will be run by Dr. Debbie Lewer, Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow.
more- Tuesday, 11th November 2008
- 6-7.30pm