New Face: Scottish National Portrait Gallery

[Michael Wong]

This Edinburgh Gallery, which closed its doors to the public last April, is currently undergoing a massive £18 million transformation to turn it into a 21st-century museum marvel.

On time and in budget, it is expected to reopen in November 2011 with a newgallery that will house 50% more exhibition space. It hopes to boost visitor numbers by 50% to 300,000 a year or more.

The opening shows will include Romantic Camera, a survey of Scotland through the lens, from pioneering images by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson to giant Scottish landscapes commissioned by German photographer Michael Reisch. Three photography exhibitions a year will draw on the national collection of 40,000 photographs.


Photo: National Galleries of Scotland director general John Leighton and gallery director James Holloway.
Copyright: Jane Barlow, Scotsman.