Surrealist Collections / Dada and Surrealism at the National Galleries of Scotland
Surrealist Collections / Dada and Surrealism at the National Galleries of Scotland

The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) have a world-class collection of Dada and Surrealist works, rare books, and archive material, which are regularly exhibited and lent worldwide.

The core of this collection is formed by two major acquisitions: in 1994–95 the NGS purchased 30 artworks and the library and archive of Surrealist artist and patron Roland Penrose (1900–84), and collector Gabrielle Keiller (1908–95) bequeathed her magnificent collection the following year. Patrick Elliott and Kirstie Meehan will trace the stories of these patrons and their collections and will look at recent additions which expand the focus and breadth of NGS’s Dada and Surrealist holdings.

The meeting will be in English and takes place remotely on Zoom. Participation is free. Registration is required.

Dr Patrick Elliott is Chief Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland. He has been a curator at the National Galleries for over thirty years. He has participated in the acquisition and cataloguing of the Roland Penrose and Gabrielle Keiller collections and has organized exhibitions on artists such as Salvador Dalí, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, and Pablo Picasso, and contemporary artists including Tracey Emin and Rachel Whiteread. In 2019 he organized the major show and catalogue Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, the first historical survey exhibition of collage. He is closely involved with the collection and was responsible for recent acquisitions including Leonora Carrington’s Portrait of Max Ernst (c. 1939), Dorothea Tanning’s Tableau vivant (1954) and a white version of Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (1938).

Kirstie Meehan is Archivist (Modern & Contemporary Art) at the National Galleries of Scotland. She holds an MA and an MLitt in Art History from the University of Cambridge, and an MPhil in Archives and Records Management. She cares for, catalogues, and provides access to the archive and special books collections, and regularly curates displays which incorporate the NGS’s world-class collection of Dada and Surrealist material, contributing to Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, 2019, and curating Between the Covers: Surrealist Erotica, 2014. Recent publications include an essay in the British Surrealism catalogue for the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2020.

The National Galleries of Scotland are based in Edinburgh and comprise the Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Whereas the Scottish National Gallery opened in 1859 and the Portrait Gallery in 1889, the Gallery of Modern Art is relatively new: it opened in 1960. It now has a collection of about 6000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, ranging in date from about 1900 to the present day. It is housed in two buildings—both former schools built around 1830 in the Neo-classical style—sited directly opposite each other to the west of the city. The collection is especially rich in Scottish art, but also includes an outstanding collection of modern art, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, German Expressionism, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, Bridget Riley, Surrealism, and Andy Warhol, up to contemporary video and installation art.

  • Free / Registration required
  • Online meeting on Zoom