Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was built in 1901 from funds raised by the 1888 International Exhibition in Kelvingrove Park. In order to build it, a competition was held in 1891, and won by the London-based architects, John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen. It was built in the Spanish Baroque style and the Cathedral of Santiago De Compostela inspired its two main towers. It opened during the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition, closed for a while, and then reopened permanently in October 1902. Fully renovated in 2009, it is one of Scotland’s most popular free attractions. The collection owes much to Archibald McLellan (1797–1854), a key benefactor, who in the mid-nineteenth-century bequeathed 400 paintings to the city of Glasgow, as well as the building in Sauchiehall Street, now called the McLellan Galleries. The Art Gallery contains 22 themed galleries with works by Titian, Rembrandt, Renoir, Van Gogh and Matisse. There are wonderful displays of armour, Egyptian objects, and even a 602 City of Glasgow Squadron Spitfire aircraft in the western hall.