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The Macabre McManus
The Macabre McManus
It’s spooky season and to inspire your Halloween costumes here are some objects drawn from our creepy collections! Did you know that trick-or-treating was originally a Scottish and Irish tradition? Known as ‘guising’, children (and adults) would dress as ghouls so they could blend in with the spirits that roamed the earthly plane on All Hallows Eve, thus remaining undetected and unharmed…All of these items are on display so come and see just how Macabre the McManus can be!
Frankenstein: Frankenstein’s Dundee Comic (2019)Between 1812 and 1814 Mary Shelley, author of the classic novel ‘Frankenstein’, spent 14 months in Dundee with the family of William Thomas Baxter. First published in 1818, it was in a later edition of the book that Shelley…
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McManus 168 Project is celebrating Success
The McManus 168 supporters group is celebrating the end of a project that has collected information on the original 261 subscribers who contributed in 1863 to the Albert Institute, now known as The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum.
Over 100 volunteers, many with no previous experience of archive work and ranging in age from 16 to 80+, have discovered exciting stories about the movers and shakers of Dundee in the 1860s. Cannibalism, bigamy, entrepreneurial spirit, fraud and adventures in Archangel sit alongside the huge contribution the subscribers made to the development of Dundee and to Scotland’s industries. The project team worked with two of Scotland’s most prominent historians, Professors Jim Tomlinson and Chris Whatley.
Sue Moody, Chair of…
A Lasting Legacy: Royal Academicians in the City of Dundee’s collections
This year, the Royal Academy celebrates its 250th anniversary. To become a Royal Academician is a huge honour – joining an exclusive membership that includes some of the finest artists in painting, sculpture, printmaking and architecture. There are only ever 80 serving Royal Academicians, all practising artists and each elected by their peers.
The Royal Academy Summer exhibition has a lasting legacy in Dundee, laying the foundations for the City’s nationally recognised permanent art collection. Look for the RA logo throughout The McManus during your visit, identifying works by Royal Academicians past and present. Highlights include stained glass windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones, paintings by Sir Henry Raeburn, John Lavery and Sir Frank Brangwyn and site…
Bash Street's Back
Beano Studios and The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, are collaborating this summer to create a bespoke exhibition dedicated to the beloved Beano characters and comic.
In Beano’s 80th year, the special collaboration will see The McManus revise their name to ‘The McMenace’, for the duration of the exhibit from the 2nd June – 21st October 2018.
To commemorate the union, Beano comic illustrator Nigel Parkinson, created an original comic strip starring The Bash Street Kids larking about and designing the new sign for The McMenace. The illustration shows The Bash Street Kids tangled in the ‘Waldella, Dundee’ by artist David Batchelor, one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.
The unique exhibition will be a fun look at Beano…
BBC Civilisations: A 1,500 year old mystery…
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum are hosting a workshop and tour on Saturday 10 March, 2018 as part of the BBC Civilisations Festival to accompany the highly anticipated TV series of the same name. The event is made possible with Art Fund support and will shed light on how the Picts lived and look into a 1,500 year old mystery surrounding the death of a man from Lundin Links near Largo in Fife.
Participants will come to The McManus to learn about how the Picts lived, they will then be invited to the Collections Unit to investigate the death of one Pictish man using the latest forensic technology. New evidence and a 3D facial reconstruction will reveal injuries for the first time that may have been responsible for his death.
Inspired by…
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…
