Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

'One of the greatest civic collections in Europe' - Neil MacGregor, Director of The National Gallery, London

One of the finest civic collections in Europe is housed within this Glasgow landmark. Here you can explore collections that include everything from fine and decorative arts to archaeology and the natural world.

The number of individual items in the natural history department alone is vast. You can admire Sir Roger the Elephant or wonder at 300-million-year-old fossils of marine life from the Glasgow area.

The re-designed Kelvingrove creates a more accessible and visitor friendly attraction, with better and larger shops, café and toilet facilities. There will be more objects on display than ever before within our 19 major galleries and a wide range of educational and learning facilities for all age groups.

The intention is to create a 21st Century Museum in Glasgow’s favourite Edwardian building and build an exciting future on a proud past.

The collection of arms and armour is one of the finest in the world, and in this country is equalled only by the Royal Armouries and by the Wallace Collection in London. Among its many treasures is the earliest near-complete field armour in the world (the famous 'Avant' armour, made in Milan c1440). Also in the collection is the impressive and unique armour for man and horse made for William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, c1550.

The magnificent fine art collection, which includes many outstanding European artworks, will be closed from mid-March 2003. However, you can still see key works from the collection at the McLellan Galleries, where they will be on display until the reopening of Kelvingrove in early 2006.

The distinctive building that houses the collections is located in the beautiful surroundings of Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow’s West End. It was opened in its present form in 1902 and remains the greatest achievement in the UK of the Victorian Municipal Museum Movement. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum attracts more than one million visitors each year. It is the second most popular visitor attraction in Scotland and the most visited museum in the UK outside London.

Whatever your interests, you will find something at Kelvingrove to fire your imagination.

Collection details

Archaeology, Costume and Textiles, Decorative and Applied Art, Fine Art, Music, Natural Sciences, Social History, Weapons and War, World Cultures