National Gallery of Scotland Modern Two

The National Gallery of Scotland Modern Two, formerly the Dean Gallery, is one of the two buildings housing the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, one of Scotland’s national art galleries. Operated by National Galleries Scotland, it is twinned with Modern One which lies on the opposite side of Belford Road.

Check out “National Gallery of Scotland Modern One”

The English-Baroque facade

It is home to a changing program of world-class exhibitions and displays drawn from the permanent collection. During our visit, On permanent display is a recreation of the Scottish sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi‘s studio, as well as his magnificent, 7.3 m. high sculpture, Vulcan, that dominates the the Paolozzi’s Kitchen (named after the Scottish sculptor), reaching from the floor to the ceiling.

One of the tower, over staircases, that contain chimneys

The museum is housed in a English Baroque-style building, with Classical detail, which started out as the Dean Orphanage (the subject of a watercolor painting c.1830 by Thomas Hamilton).  Built in Craigleith stone from the nearby quarry, it took three years to build. Contributing to the Edinburgh skyline, in the west of the city center, are the towers, over the staircases, that contain chimneys. Above the entrance is a clock that came from the original Orphan Hospital and, in turn, from the 1764 demolition of the Netherbow Port on the High Street, which formerly separated the High Street from the Canongate.

The exhibit space

For many decades, this building, owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, served as the Dean Education Centre before its conversion into a gallery designed by the architect Terry Farrell and Partners. In 1999, the gallery opened opposite the existing Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. In 2011, both buildings were rebranded Modern Two and Modern One, respectively.

the 73 m. high Vulcan sculpture of Eduardo Paolozzi (1989)

Modern Two houses the Paolozzi Gift, a collection of works by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, given by the artist to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1994, as well as the gallery’s world-famous collection of Surrealism (including works by Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Alberto Giacometti) and a large collection of Dada and Surrealist art and literature largely made up by the collections of Roland Penrose and Gabrielle Keiller.

Modern Two also houses temporary exhibitions, a library (its great strengths are Dada and Surrealism, early twentieth century artists and contemporary Scottish art), an archive and a special books collection.

Two Lines Up Excentric VI (George Rickey, 1977, stainless steel)

The archive, containing over 120 holdings relating to twentieth and twenty-first century artists, collectors and art organizations, including the gallery’s own papers, holds one of the world’s best collections of Dada and Surrealist material. The special books collection, containing over 2,500 artist books and limited edition livres d’artiste (again with a main focus on Dada and Surrealism), also contains books by other major artists from the twentieth century including Oskar Kokoschka‘s Die Träumenden Knaben (1917) and Henri Matisse’s Jazz (1947), all available to the public in the reading room which is only open to the public by appointment. The Gabrielle Keiller Library hosts regular changing displays that showcase items from these collections.

Master of the Universe (Eduardo Paolozzi, 1989)

Modern Two is surrounded by a sculpture garden with a number of modern and avant-garde works on display, including Gate (1972) by William Turnbull, Two Lines up Excentric VI (1977) by George Rickey, La Vierge d’Alsace (1919–1921) by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, There will be no Miracles Here (2007–2009) by Nathan Coley, Master of the Universe (1989) by Eduardo Paolozzi, Two Two-Way Mirrored Parallelograms Joined with One Side Balanced Spiral Welded Mesh (1996) by Dan Graham, Macduff Circle (2002) by Richard Long, and Escaped Animals (2002) by Julian Opie.

National Gallery of Scotland Modern Two: 75 Belford Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DR, United Kingdom.  Tel: +44 131 624 6200.  E-mail: enquiries@nationalgalleries.org. Website: www.nationalgalleries.org.  Open daily, 10 AM to 5PM. Coordinates: 55°57′06.52″N 3°13′26.75″W.