Talbot Rice Gallery is the public art gallery of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and part of

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. The building has three exhibition spaces, including a contemporary white cube gallery and a neoclassical space that was formerly a 19th-century natural history museum. Its programme includes a number of exhibitions each year, with solo shows providing international artists with access to University research and collections, whilst conceptual group shows foreground key political and social issues. Talbot Rice Gallery is open to the public and admission free.

History

The University of Edinburgh's historic Old College was designed by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

and completed by

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

. In 1967 the library collection was moved to a new location. An arts centre with an exhibition hall was opened in the Quad in 1970, following a £20,000 renovation paid for by the Gulbenkian Foundation. The gallery was opened in 1975 under the guidance of Prof Giles Henry Robertson and takes its name from his predecessor, Prof David Talbot Rice, the Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh from 1934 to 1972. The Gallery fundraises for their artistic programme, and has to date received support from

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( ; ) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the execut ...

, as well as international and grant support including Mondriaan Fonds, Culture Ireland and the Freelands Foundation. In 2019, the Gallery was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant for the first time.

References

{{authority control Buildings and structures of the University of Edinburgh Art museums and galleries in Edinburgh University museums in Scotland 1975 establishments in Scotland Art museums and galleries established in 1975 Scottish contemporary art