A Visit to The Burrell Collection

The Neilston Men's Group recently visited The Burrell Collection in Glasgow. The collection of artworks, then valued at about one million pounds, was donated to the City of Glasgow by Sir William Burrell and his wife Constance in 1944.

 

Originally opening to the public in 1983, the collection's 9,000 works of art spanning 6,000 years of history are housed in Glasgow's Pollock Country Park in a purpose-built museum. It's since undergone a full refurbishment and has re-opened in March 2022 in a brand new building. I'd been to the earlier museum so was keen to see what the new one was like. First impressions were good - it's much bigger, there's lots more glass so inside is much brighter and spacious, with lots of places to have a seat and enjoy it. The museum has done a great job of presenting the collection in a clear and accessible way. The galleries are spacious and well-lit, with informative labels and interactive displays.

 

Sadly, parking is no longer free and it'll set you back £5 per car now. That said, the car park was very busy when we got there just after 11 a.m. but it was a sunny day as the park, Glasgow's largest, was busy too and there are plenty of walking trails around that if you want to make a day of it.

 

The collection is a mix of Chinese art, medieval treasures including stained glass, sculptures, arms and armour, over 200 tapestries, and paintings by renowned artists including Rembrandt, Manet, Cezanne, Hals and Degas. There are even bits of furniture, carpets and several, very large carved stone portals.

The Reheasal by Edgar Degas

There are three levels in the building and most of the artwork rooms have plenty of information and some have videos that fill the walls. There's even an animated movie of the painting above (The Rehearsal) that brings the characters to life and pans around the room - it's really well done. Yes, there are lifts if you need one as well as stairs.

Burrell was obviously a bit of a magpie, well, one with a great deal of money, but he also seems to be of a different mould from most of the people that made their money from shipping in that he had a bit of a social conscience and a philanthropic nature as he wanted his prized collection to be viewed and enjoyed by everyone.

The group split up and we wandered around for about an hour before meeting back at the coffee shop for a welcome refreshment. We could easily have spent a few more hours wandering around so I'd be happy to go back sometime.

To offset that parking fee, there are what seemed to be free, regular guided tours on the go. There's also a decent sized restaurant and a coffee shop, as well as the wee coffee shop we used, several picnic areas, an exhibition space and the obligatory souvenir shop.

The web site has a very decent "Plan Your Visit" page where you can get all the information you need before you go - opening times, accessibility, and how to get there. You can also download the floor plan but you can get a printed copy of that from reception as well.

I wish I'd spotted the fact there's a mobile app that has an interactive guide to the museum before we went so, if you are planning on going to the museum, then this might be worth checking out. It's available for Android and iOS and can be downloaded from the Bloomberg Connects web site. The app features free digital guides with expert-curated content to over 200 museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens, and cultural spaces from around the world, including a few others in Scotland. 

There are more photos taken in The Burrell Collection here: