Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art review Rate it

Since 1984, Scotland's national collection of modern art has been housed in this neo-classical structure, designed by William Burn in the 1820s as an institution for fatherless children. High-profile temporary exhibitions in recent years have covered Brit-art names such as Tracey Emin and Steve McQueen. However, there's also a strong permanent collection with pieces from Freud, Mondrian, Hepworth and the Scottish Colourists, plus a few Damien Hirsts thrown in; the most beautiful work may be Picasso's blue, beautiful Mère et Enfant (1902). As you walk downstairs to the café, which has a pleasant terrace, look across to the supporting wall on the stairwell. It's been given over to the artist Douglas Gordon, who has neatly printed on it the names of every person he has ever met and whose name he can remember.

The fun continues outside. At the front, the lawn has been remodelled by American landscape architect Charles Jencks into a sculpture entitled Landform And at the back, you'll find a Richard Long environmental sculpture (Cornish Slate Cross, 2007) insinuating itself into the grass, or vice versa.