Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow's largest museum and art gallery and owns one of the largest municipal art collections in Europe. The museum is the second most popular visitor attraction in Scotland and is the most visited museum in the UK outside London. It is located in the Argyle Street opposite the architecturally similar Kelvin Hall in the west of the city, on the banks of the River Kelvin. It is adjacent to Kelvingrove Park and is in close proximity to the main campus of the University of Glasgow on the Gilmore Hill.

The construction of Kelvingrove was partly financed from the proceeds of the International Exhibition of 1888, which was held in Kelvingrove Park. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery was opened in 1902. It was designed by Sir John W. Simpson and EJ Milner Allen. The building is built in a Spanish Baroque style and follows the tradition to use Glasgow, red sandstone. A widespread rumor says the building was built the wrong way round and the architect had committed suicide by jumping from one of the towers ( or hanged ). This is wrong and probably comes from the fact that the main entrance to the museum in Kelvingrove Park is, most visitors enter the building, however, of Argyle Street from.

The exhibits of the museum came mainly from the McLellan Gallery, and from the old Kelvingrove House Museum in Kelvingrove Park. They comprise one of the most outstanding collections of arms and armor in the world, a huge natural history collection, and an art collection. The latter offers many important European art, including works of the Old Masters, French Impressionists and Scottish painter. The museum housed the image The Christ of St. John of the Cross by Salvador Dali, which was issued between 1993 and July 2006 at the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.

On 11 July 2006 Kelvingrove was reopened after a three-year renovation period. The renovations cost about £ 35 million and included the construction of a new restaurant and a large expansion of exhibition space to show the 8000 exhibition pieces can.