Events at the National Galleries of Scotland

Mertoun House Tours - 13th May to 14th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 14:56:54

An opportunity to see more of the magnificent Bridgewater art collection. Includes transport to Mertoun House (near Melrose), an art-historical guided tour and refreshments. Meet outside front entrance of Scottish National Gallery.

Live Music Now: Skerryvore Trio - Thursday, 23rd May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 14:33:41

Since their formation on the tiny Island of Tiree in 2005, 'trad-rock' band SKERRYVORE have evolved to become a multi-award winning act with performances in over 20 countries worldwide from Chicago to Shanghai. For this special stripped back performance, three of the founding members will revisit some of the original traditional tracks that were the foundations of their sound while also showcasing some acoustic versions of their own successful compositions.

Venus Rising from the Sea ('Venus Anadyomene') by Titian - Friday, 24th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 12:20:53

Titian painted Venus many times, and in various actions and situations. The Venus Anadyomene in the Scottish National Gallery is just one among them. The goddess inhabited his mental world and that of his contemporary society as a complex mythological principle and as a rich personality. As such, she is to be sought in the painting and found also informing several pictures which she keeps company in the Gallery. A talk by Dr James Lawson, University of Edinburgh.

Ernesto Neto in Conversation with Michael Asbury - Friday, 24th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-11 14:38:42

Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, known for his ethereal, abstract sculptures, makes a rare visit to Scotland to talk about his work with Dr Michael Asbury, Reader in the Theory and History of Art at University of the Arts, London. Neto's incredible installation, It Happens When the Body is Anatomy of Time, 2000, is one of the key works in our exhibition, From Death to Death and Other Small Tales at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Part of the DEMERGON Conversation Series in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland. Supported by DEMERGON.

National Gallery Highlights Tours - May 2013 - Saturday, 25th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 14:53:18

An introduction to and tour of the National Gallery's permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. Meet at the main entrance.

Contemporary Art is an Easy Thing to Hate - Saturday, 25th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-21 13:24:40

Contemporary art is an easy thing to hate. Professor Simon Critchley, Hans Jonas Professor, New School for Social Research, New York, lists some of those reasons in gruesome and florid detail before giving at least one reason why we should still love it. In order to make the latter case, Critchley focuses on the work of the French artist Philippe Parreno, in particular, his short films. He develops a phenomenology of aesthetic experience based around a reversal of intentionality, an attention to sensuousness and an acute sense of the fictional. Critchley also considers the work of a selection of artists who feature in the exhibition, From Death to Death and Other Small Tales, and the question of contemporary art's complicity with capital and whether there is still a space for critique, resistance and distance in the art world. Part of the DEMERGON Conversation Series in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland. Supported by DEMERGON. Simon Critchley is Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. He also teaches at Tilburg University and the European Graduate School. His many books include Very Little…Almost Nothing, Infinitely Demanding, The Book of Dead Philosophers, The Faith of the Faithless, and, most recently with Tom McCarthy, The Mattering of Matter. Documents from the Archive of the International Necronautical Society. A new work on Hamlet called Stay, Illusion! will be published in June by Pantheon Books, co-authored with Jamieson Webster. He is series moderator of ‘The Stone’, a philosophy column in The New York Times, to which he is a frequent contributor.

The Gallery Book Lounge: A Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent by Alexander Von Humboldt - Sunday, 26th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-01-29 15:31:51

National Galleries of Scotland’s book group for lovers of art and reading. This month we'll be discussing the Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent by Alexander Von Humboldt in relation to the exhibition Frederic Edwin Church. Humboldt was one of the greatest and most influential nineteenth-century scientist-explorers; he traversed the tropical Spanish Americas between 1799 and 1804. Humboldt followed a view of nature as a great web of interconnections and his theories greatly influenced the art and travels of Church. Ticket price includes a tour of Frederic Edwin Church, a chaired discussion of the book and a coffee or tea in the Scottish Restaurant. Books not supplied but available from the National Galleries of Scotland shop. As this is a book group and we will be discussing the book, please read the book before the event.

Meet the Ancestors - Meet Mary, Queen of Scots - Sunday, 26th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-01-25 16:19:09

Explore our portraits with Mary, Queen of Scots and learn all about the life of a queen. (Ages 4-12)

An Introduction to Modern Art - Looking May - Monday, 27th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-02 15:22:25

These informal monthly sessions are designed to help participants develop an understanding and appreciation of modern art with friendly discussion in the gallery space and an explanation of basic terms and styles of modern and contemporary art. Each stand-alone session is guided by art historian Ola Wojtkiewicz.

Peploe and France: From Paris to the Côte d’Azur - Monday, 27th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 12:23:03

Frances Fowle, Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery, examines Peploe’s activities in Paris, Royan and Cassis and assesses his formation as a leading member of the British avant-garde.

Rodin’s The Kiss - Tuesday, 28th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 12:24:21

Patrick Elliott, Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, examines the story behind this famous sculpture, currently on loan for a year from Tate to the Scottish National Gallery. The talk will explore the three carved versions, which have interesting differences and the multitude of bronzes.

The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton - Thursday, 30th May 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-02-08 12:25:45

Diane Atkinson's definitive new biography tells the extraordinary story of one woman's fight for the rights of women everywhere. For 30 years, Caroline Norton battled male-dominated Victorian society, helping to write the Infant Custody Act (1839); and influenced the Matrimonial Causes (Divorce) Act (1857) and the Married Women's Property Act (1870) , which gave wives a separate legal identity for the first time. Poet, songwriter and novelist Norton became an accidental feminist when her life unravelled in 1836. Her husband accused the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, of having had a 'criminal conversation' (adultery) with her. Lord Melbourne was found not guilty, Norton's marriage collapsed: she was left destitute, denied all her manuscripts and possessions and forbidden from seeing her three sons. Today her name and work are not widely known, but every time a mother is granted custody of her children, or is successful in her application for financial support, Caroline's struggles with her cruel husband and her eventual success should be saluted. A special evening talk by author Diane Atkinson followed by a book signing.

Portrait Gallery Thematic Tours: All Things Bright and Beautiful - Saturday, 1st June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:53:50

Thematic, changing tours of the Portrait Gallery's collection. This month, Susanna Kerr, former Senior Curator, Portrait Gallery, will examine the significance of jewellery in portraiture as a symbol of beauty, power and wealth.

Art Cart - June - Sunday, 2nd June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:21:11

Free drop-in art activities for all the family led by artists Tessa Asquith-Lamb and Paula Flavell. Each month there's something new to create inspired by different works from the collection or exhibitions. Supported by the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland. (Ages 4-12)

Tickling Andy Cameron - Wednesday, 5th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 13:50:47

Andy Cameron shot to fame in the 1970s for his stand-up comedy routine in the guise of a football hooligan. Following appearances in New Faces in 1975 and 1978, he went on to have his own television series in 1983. He subsequently became a successful radio presenter. In this special talk, Andy Cameron will reflect on his own career as well discussing some of influential comedy greats who feature in our Tickling Jock exhibition.

Jessie Bates and Haftor Medbøe - Thursday, 6th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:27:48

Acclaimed singer Jessie Bates and guitarist Haftor Medbøe perform a specially prepared programme of songs that reflect and respond to the work of Frederic Edwin Church. Themes of travel are combined with representations of the elements in a 30-minute song-cycle of new work. Jessie Bates is held in the highest regard by her audiences and peers alike, and as well as leading his eponymous group, Haftor Medbøe is Jazz Musician in Residence at Edinburgh Napier University.

Books in Focus: Georges Hugnet - Thursday, 6th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:33:30

Our series of Books in Focus sessions focuses on artists’ books held in the special collections of the Gallery of Modern Art. This session will focus on the Surrealist artist, poet and bookbinder, Georges Hugnet. A prolific and central member of the Surrealist group, Hugnet is particularly known for his collage novels. This session will examine Eight Days in Trébaumec and The Seventh Face of the Dice, in addition to publications he produced in collaboration with artists such as Hans Bellmer, Pablo Picasso and Yves Tanguy.

The Other Mr Hill: Alexander Hill (1799-1866) Dealer Extraordinaire and the Promotion of Modern Art - Friday, 7th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 13:56:22

Once a figure of international stature, Alexander Hill transformed the commercial art world of mid-nineteenth-century Edinburgh through his entrepreneurship as a major print publisher and dealer in modern Scottish, English and French art, often acting in tandem with his younger brother D.O. Hill, the pioneering calotype photographer and influential secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy. Alexander’s enduring legacy is still recognisable today in the growth of modern dealer exhibition culture in Scotland. A talk by Helen Smailes, Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery.

Highlight Tours of From Death to Death and Other Small Tales - June 2013 - Saturday, 8th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:45:12

Tours of the Gallery of Modern Art's new exhibition, From Death to Death and Other Small Tales which features works from the permanent collection and the private holdings of modern and contemporary art from the D.Daskalapoulos Collection.

Portrait Detectives! - June - Sunday, 9th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:23:14

Join Detectives Raeburn and Rothko and become a Portrait Detective for the afternoon. Collect your hat, follow clues and help solve the mysteries behind our portraits. Supported by the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland. (Ages 4-12)

Neto and Hammons: An Artist's Insight into the Installation Process - Monday, 10th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 13:59:13

Artist Campbell Sandilands shares a personal perspective on the installation of two jewels of the From Death to Death experience, the works by Ernesto Neto and David Hammons. Come along and hear about the step-by-step process of installing the artworks, the highs and lows, the serendipitous moments, that sense of ownership, and wanting to do one's very best as the installation progresses.

SJ Peploe: A Life - Tuesday, 11th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:05:58

Alice Strang, Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and Curator of the Peploe retrospective, will give an overview of the artist whom many consider to be the leader of the Scottish Colourists. Please note that this is a repeat of the February talk due to popular demand.

Easel Sketching in the Gallery June - 13th to 14th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-03-21 09:06:03

Drop-in sketching in the gallery, led by artist Damian Callan. A different subject each month and sometimes with a live model.

‘Earth has not anything to show more fair . . .’: The Poets’ View - Thursday, 13th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:08:16

Walk around the landscapes depicted by Frederic Edwin Church in the company of poets ancient and modern whose descriptions add a new dimension to the painter’s work, with Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library.

The Drawing Room - June 2013 - Thursday, 13th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:50:45

Experimental, artist-led drawing sessions inspired by the Gallery of Modern Art's current exhibition, From Death to Death and Other Small Tales.

Saturday Life Drawing Class - Morning & Afternoon Sessions June - Saturday, 15th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-03-20 15:03:24

See how others have portrayed the human figure, then work from a model. Led by artist Graham Flack. All materials supplied. Suitable for all levels of experience.

Portrait Gallery Architecture Tours - June 2013 - Saturday, 15th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:47:29

Monthly architecture tours of the magnificent Arts and Crafts building designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson.

Saturday could be Creative Writing Day - June - Saturday, 15th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-03-20 15:25:47

Monthly morning sessions. Enjoy touring a small selection of works from the permanent collection, or temporary exhibitions, based on a different theme each month, led by Emily Learmont. Looking this month at the Frederic Edwin Church exhibition. Author Regi Claire will then lead an inspiring creative writing workshop.

Hearing Impaired Tours - Through American Eyes - Frederic Church and the Landscape Oil Sketch - Sunday, 16th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:11:29

A free tour with portable loops for the hearing impaired, led by Tessa Asquith Lamb.

Bags of Art - June - SJ Peploe Special! - Sunday, 16th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-15 17:30:43

Cool and creative fun with artists Louise Fraser and Tessa Asquith-Lamb. Free entry to the SJ Peploe exhibition for participating families! Supported by the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland. (Ages 4-12)

Robert Louis Stevenson: Marble bust by David Watson Stevenson - Wednesday, 19th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:11:19

Susanna Kerr, former Senior Curator, Portrait Gallery, discusses the life of the great Scottish writer and traveller, in relation to the marble bust sculpted in the year of his death.

Visually Impaired Tour and Workshop - From Death to Death and other Small Tales - Wednesday, 19th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:05:45

A free descriptive tour and practical workshop led by Juliana Capes for the Visually Impaired.

Rudsambee - Thursday, 20th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:29:11

Rudsambee Company of Singers is an a capella choir based in Edinburgh whose exciting and varied programs place Western classical music, old and new, alongside diverse pieces from around the world including Indian ragas, Estonian folk music and contemporary American choral music.

Re-introducing Frederic Edwin Church - Friday, 21st June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:14:10

Dr Gerald Carr has been studying Frederic Edwin Church and compatriot Hudson River School artists since 1978. In his talk, he will discuss Church and Church's art from several perspectives. Church’s Scottish-accented British connections premised his lifetime national and international renown. Hence, besides being a gifted, peripatetic, by turns pensive and pranksterish American painter, Church was also fundamentally and functionally a Victorian. In addition, he was a lifelong enthusiast of outdoor sketching; pater familias of his upstate, New York home, Olana; and, of course, creator of the Edinburgh Niagara Falls, from the American Side, 1867. Owned by the NGS since 1887, and Church's lifetime largest painting, the 1867 Niagara can be interpreted allegorically, as a cleansing post-American Civil War Deluge.

Opening Lecture: Man Ray Portraits - Saturday, 22nd June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-14 11:27:24

Terence Pepper, Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, London and curator of the Man Ray Portraits exhibition, is in conversation with Christopher Baker, Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Together they will discuss the ideas behind the exhibition, the first museum retrospective to focus specifically on the artist’s work in the realm of photographic portraiture.

Meet the Ancestors - Adventure Tales of the Jacobites - Sunday, 23rd June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:29:35

Join Storyteller Fiona Herbert and hear about the Jacobites and their battle to reclaim the throne. (Ages 4-12)

An Introduction to Modern Art - Looking June - Monday, 24th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-03-21 09:21:26

Joseph Beuys: Art as Redemption? - Monday, 24th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:18:27

This talk by Dr Debbie Lewer, Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow, will consider the work of the post-war German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986). Focusing on a selection of works currently on show in the From Death to Death and Other Small Tales exhibition, we will discuss themes of personal and collective trauma and redemption and Beuys’s concept of ‘social sculpture’.

Miró and Sculpture: The Making - Tuesday, 25th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:21:44

'I'm an old painter, but a young sculptor,' said my grandfather to his friend Alexander Calder in 1973, when he turned 80 years old. There are many links between Miró's painting and sculpture that can be found in both means of expression. The making of one sculpture can be axed apart and put back together again with the help of an introspective scrutiny. Miró, Moore, Hepworth, Calder, Picasso and Brancusi were living galaxies interconnected within the universe of the 20th-century sculpture, and there are many readings to be made between them all. A special guest lecture by Joan Punyet Miró, grandson of Joan Miró, on the recent installation of two sculptures by the artist on long-loan to the Gallery of Modern Art.

National Gallery Highlights Tours - June 2013 - Saturday, 29th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:49:04

An introduction to and tour of the National Gallery's permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. Meet at the main entrance.

The Gallery Book Lounge: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein - Sunday, 30th June 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-04-05 09:53:11

National Galleries of Scotland’s book group for lovers of art and reading. This month's book by experimental American Modernist writer Gertrude Stein, is a fascinating autobiographical chronicle of the vibrant artistic world of Paris in the 1920s and 30s. Alice and Gertrude, pictured in their apartment surrounded by modern art by the most famous artists of the day, feature in a portrait by Man Ray included in our exhibition Man Ray Portraits. As Gertrude wrote, the photographer Man Ray made portraits of Picasso, Hemingway, Matisse, Peggy Guggenheim and many more icons of their times. Ticket price includes entry to Man Ray Portraits, a chaired discussion of the book and a coffee or tea in the café. Books not supplied but available at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery shop. This is a book group and we will be discussing the book, so please read the book before the event.

After Icebergs with a Painter. Frederic Church and his Northern Landscapes - Tuesday, 2nd July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 15:05:05

The portrayal of ice and snow in Western landscape pictures with the exception of some 16th and early 17th-century Dutch Masters is notably absent until the time of Frederic Edwin Church. As the 19th century progressed and new discoveries provided evidence of direct relationships between ice, the evolution of the Earth and its surface appearance, this phenomena became controversially involved with religious and scientific convictions surrounding the Creation. Church and his studies of icebergs, made as a result of a specially commissioned voyage around Labrador and Newfoundland in 1859 changed public perception of the massive formations and their meaning on both sides of the Atlantic. He achieved the aim of Alexander von Humboldt whose works he collected and admired which was for artists ‘to illustrate through heroic landscapes a means to portray the essential characteristics of the distinct zones of the Earth.’ His monumental painting, Icebergs 1861 as a study of combined grandeur and divinity has never, arguably, been bettered. A talk by Trevor Ware, maritime historian.

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, 1702 - 1768, and his Family by Jeremiah Davison - Wednesday, 3rd July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 15:06:35

Jeremiah Davison’s engaging painting of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton and his family was commissioned for their new house at Dalmahoy. Ailsa Turner, art historian discusses the image and future hopes the painting projects and the extent to which it reflects the realities and, ideals of family life in the early eighteenth century.

Inspired by Man Ray: A Two-day Experimental Photography Course - Thursday, 4th July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-03-22 10:11:29

Led by photographer Alicia Bruce, create surrealist portraits combining digital photographs and experimental camera-less Rayograph techniques in our black & white darkroom. Course begins with a visit to the exhibition.

Books in Focus: Ed Ruscha - Thursday, 4th July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:56:25

Our series of Books in Focus sessions focuses on artists’ books held in the special collections of the Gallery of Modern Art. This session will focus on the artist books produced by American artist Ed Ruscha between 1964 to 2005. A pioneer of the movement to produce inexpensive and accessible books, they remain a key part of his artistic output: as he said in 1972, ‘If there is any facet in my work that I feel was kissed by angels, I’d say it was my books.'

Art Cart - July - Sunday, 7th July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:22:16

Portrait Detectives! - July - Sunday, 14th July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:24:02

Bags of Art - July - Sunday, 21st July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-10 14:26:01

Cool and creative fun with artists Louise Fraser and Tessa Asquith-Lamb. Supported by the Friends of the National Galleries of Scotland. (Ages 4-12)

National Gallery Highlights Tours - July 2013 - Saturday, 27th July 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:49:28

An introduction to and tour of the National Gallery's permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. Meet at the main entrance.

Books in Focus: Alan Davie - Thursday, 1st August 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 15:00:14

Our series of Books in Focus sessions focuses on artists’ books held in the special collections of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. This session will focus on books by Scottish artist and jazz musician Alan Davie (born in Grangemouth, 1920) and will be a rare opportunity to view publications including Magic Reader (1988).

National Gallery Highlights Tours - August 2013 - Saturday, 31st August 2013

National Galleries of Scotland — 2013-05-09 14:49:52

An introduction to and tour of the National Gallery's permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. Meet at the main entrance.