Latest News
New exhibition Highlights Scottish Artists who became Global Stars of Art History
Border Crossings: Ten Scottish Masters of Modern Art
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum
Opens Saturday 28 June 2025. Runs until Sunday 14 June 2026
FREE
Ten pioneering modern Scottish artists are the subject of a new exhibition at The McManus, opening later this month.
The bold visions and international acclaim have placed them among the greats of global art history. These artists are Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Robert Colquhoun, William Crozier, Alan Davie, William Gear, William Johnstone, Robert MacBryde, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Scott and William Turnbull.
All ten made a unique contribution to the development of modern art worldwide. All ten left their home country to achieve success. All ten were immersed in international…
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Large-scale sketch of Dundee on display at The McManus, Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum
Visitors to The McManus, Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum, will be able to see their city mapped out in a huge, aerial drawing by artist Carl Lavia, aka Sketch. Remarkably made from memory, the work conveys key landmarks and intricate details of the UNESCO City of Design. This exhibition marks the artist’s fourth stop on an epic road trip to sketch all 69 UK cities, and will be on display for 6 months from Saturday 17 February 2018.
A talented, self-taught artist, Carl has been sketching since he was 5 years old. As a child, he was fascinated with drawing maps, architecture and fictional cities. It was after contracting and overcoming Guillane-Barré syndrome, a condition that affects the nervous system and can leave sufferers paralysed, that he decided to take his childhood…
The Royal Arch: People’s Tower or Pigeon Palace?
A new display on Dundee’s former Royal Arch is to go on show at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum from Saturday 17 February. The exhibit will challenge views on whether it should be regarded as the ‘People’s Tower’ or indeed whether it could more accurately be described as a ‘Pigeon Palace’.
The display will feature the ‘three ages’ of the arch – wooden, stone and cardboard. Artwork of the arch will be on the walls and a marble plaque that survived the demolition of the arch will be on show on the wall beneath the Royal Arch clock. The exhibit will also feature a wooden model of the arch and ephemera associated with the Victorian structure including pieces collected from a public appeal held late last year.
The Royal Arch was built to commemorate the…
A new display on Royal Arch is on its way to The McManus
A new display on the Royal Arch is coming to The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum next month. The Landscapes and Lives 2 Gallery at the museum will be unavailable between 5 February until 16 February to allow for the take down of the current Fire and Stone exhibition and install of the new exhibit opening on Saturday 17 February.
The display will feature the ‘three ages’ of the arch – wooden, stone and cardboard. Artwork of the arch will be on the walls and a marble plaque that survived the demolition of the arch will be on show on the wall beneath the Royal Arch clock. The monumental archway formerly stood over the access to the pier between Earl Grey Dock and King William IV Dock on Dundee’s waterfront.
The exhibit will also feature a wooden model of the…
Giant Walrus named Marmalade after a public vote
A giant stuffed Walrus at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum has been named Marmalade after a public vote to name the large flippered marine mammal. It is thought the name has proved popular with visitors due to the long association Dundee has with marmalade and also that it is a feature of their current ‘Dundee Preserves’ exhibition.
Marmalade took 35% of the vote, with Whonda second with 20%. Other names on the shortlist were Gertrude, Pricilla, Florence, Daisy and Evangeline. The museum has been collecting suggestions since the exhibition opened in June and curators selected a shortlist of seven earlier this month which was then put to a public vote to choose the final name and revealed as part of an online advent calendar.
Atlantic Walruses are large…
First Foot at The McManus
Staff at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum will be wishing visitors ‘A Guid New Year to All’ at their First Foot at The McManus event on Wednesday 3 January, 2018. They are inviting everyone to join them for a special afternoon of free family friendly activities to welcome in a brand New Year. There’s plenty to do, see and explore at the museum and the fun starts at 12pm with a traditional New Year’s Welcome from guest pipers. There will also be live music throughout the afternoon from acoustic duo 'Melodia'.
The Victoria Gallery will have magical fairy fun for all the family with New Year themed storytelling sessions, designed especially for younger visitors and the young at heart. Visitors can also drop in and gather ‘roond’ the traditional Scottish fireplace in…
The Victorian Landscape in Watercolour at The McManus
The Victorian Landscape in Watercolour
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum
Until Sun 28 Jan 2018
FREE Admission
To coincide with our popular exhibition Sense of Place, our annual Winter Works on Paper display is drawn from the City’s collection of watercolours.
During the nineteenth century both landscape painting, as a subject matter, and the medium of watercolour came into their own. Watercolours began to be included in the Royal Academy and Royal Scottish Academy summer exhibitions. In addition, Queen Victoria’s interest in watercolour did much to promote the art on both a professional and amateur level.
This display considers how Scottish artists used watercolour to paint the Scottish landscape. Included are works by Horatio…
Video: Preparations for spectacular anniversary event at The McManus revealed
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum has released two videos revealing preparations contemporary artist Duncan Marquiss and musician Jonnie Common have been making, in the run-up to a large-scale video installation and soundtrack, Drawn to Light. The event will take place on the evening of Saturday 25 November and will provide a stunning finale to the museum’s 150th anniversary programme of year-long celebrations. The spectacle of art, light and sound will virtually turn the museum building inside out to expose its contents.
Leading contemporary artist Duncan Marquiss has been invited to delve into the city’s extraordinary collection of objects and artworks to create a new large-scale video installation that will light up the exterior of the museum…
The McManus: The People’s Story Banner
The Creative Learning Team at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum have been working this year with the local community to produce a unique banner for the museum’s 150th anniversary. The banner is part of an ambitious learning and engagement programme called ‘The People’s Story’ where visitors and participants have told stories of their own journeys, memories and experiences as they explored the museum.
The team have now created a special woven warp using a rigid-heddle loom and worked with over 8000 participants from schools, families and community groups to co-produce ‘The People’s Story Birthday Banner’ creating a woven weft. Warp and weft are terms for the two basic components used in weaving to turn yarn into fabric. The warp yarns are held stationary in tension…
Spectacular Anniversary Event Announced to Celebrate 150 Years of The McManus
Duncan Marquiss & Jonnie Common
Drawn to Light
A spectacular outdoor video projection and live music event celebrating 150 years of The McManus
Saturday 25 Nov 2017
7-8.30pm — Free
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, leading contemporary artist Duncan Marquiss has been invited to delve into the city’s extraordinary collection of objects and artworks to create a new large-scale video installation that will light up the exterior of the museum building.
Over the past six months, Duncan has worked with curators and staff at The McManus to draw together images and stories triggered by objects in the collection. From this source material, he will create a video that will be projection mapped…
Heritage Awareness Day
The McManus 168 group are celebrating Scotland's first ever Heritage Awareness Day with a fresh appeal for volunteers to get involved in their research project.
Launched in June this project to research the original 261 subscribers who contributed to The Albert Institute, now known as The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum, is well under way. The Heritage Lottery funded project is part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the museum which was established in 1867. More volunteers are needed to find out about the men and women who made the founding of this iconic building possible.
Working with a team including historians Professors Jim Tomlinson and Chris Whatley, city archivists and other experts, the volunteer researchers have the opportunity to delve into…
