Explore a wealth of art from 1540 to the present in this landmark exhibition uniting two outstanding Scottish collections.

Part of the driving force behind creating a national art collection in the 19th century, the Royal Scottish Academy contributed some of its own pieces in 1910 in return for exhibiting rights at the Scottish National Gallery. What is now known as the RSA Building is also the venue for the first ever reunion of these works with the original Acadamy collection in an event that takes over the whole building.

With complementary pieces from National Galleries of Scotland also on display, the exhibition offers an overview of Scottish collecting that spans centuries, from Jacopo Bassano’s masterpiece, The Adoration of the Kings (1540), to Callum Innes’s Exposed Painting Lamp Black (2015) and a brand new commission by Kenny Hunter. Even more up to the moment, photographer Calum Colin moves his studio into the building to create a new work during the exhibition itself.

Over 450 works are featured across a variety of media including paintings, sculpture and film. The history of the collections is brought to life with a recreation of Victorian salon-style exhibiting where 90 pictures are hung from dado to ceiling. Elsewhere, the 19th-century printing press of renowned etcher, ES Lumsden (1883-1948), will be put back into use by leading artists, and a live Life School will take place weekly for selected students under the tuition of RSA artists.

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/ages-wonder-scotlands-art-1540-now