‘… a gallery of modern art for Scotland’ - the Scottish Modern Arts Association and the creation of Scotland’s National Gallery of Modern Art

There were calls for a Gallery of Modern Art in Scotland from the earliest years of the twentieth century, but it took until 1960 for this finally to be established. Why did it take so long, and who were the main actors involved in the process? The Scottish Modern Arts Association played a key role by putting together a collection of works for the proposed new Gallery, but when the Gallery finally opened, only one of these works was transferred into the national collection. This lecture will explore the difficult path to the creation of a Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and reflect on the shifting attitudes to modern art over the half-century delay. 

Dr Anne Galastro teaches architectural history at the University of Edinburgh and at the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow, specialising in courses on museum and gallery architecture. She has published and lectured on the institutional policies of the National Galleries of Scotland and has collaborated on several exhibitions at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.