AS.E.UAURIATCol 
 
THE FINE ART COLLECTION 
 OF GLASGOW 
 
GLASGOW 
 
 PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY 
 ROBERT MACLEHOSE & COMPANY LTD. FOR 
 JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, PUBLISHERS 
 TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. LTD. LONDON 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. NEW YORK 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA TORONTO 
 
 SIMPKIN, HAMILTON AND CO. LONDON 
 
 MACMILLAN AND BOWES CAMBRIDGE 
 
 DOUGLAS AND FOULIS EDINBURGH 
 
 MCMVI 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/fineartcollectioOOglas 
 
Plate \. 
 
 TITIAN (Tiziano V 'eg ell jo) 
 Holy Family 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 1 ft. u in.; Width, 2 ft. 10 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
THE 
 
 FINE ART COLLECTION 
 OF GLASGOW 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY BY 
 JAMES PATON, F.L.S. 
 
 CURATOR OF THE GALLERY 
 
 GLASGOW 
 JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS 
 
 PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 MCMVI 
 
List of 
 
 Plates 
 
 23. John CONSTABLE, R.A. 
 
 24. Joseph M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 
 25. Horatio McCULLOCH, R.S.A. 
 
 26. Sam BOUGH, R.S.A. 
 
 27. Sam BOUGH, R.S.A. 
 
 28. Alexander FRASER, R.S.A. 
 
 29. James DOCHARTY, A.R.S.A. 
 
 30. John PETTIE, R.A. 
 
 31. W. Q. ORCHARDSON, R.A. 
 
 32. Sir John E. MILLAIS, Bart., P.R.A. 
 
 33. Sir Edward BURNE-JONES, Bart. 
 
 34. James M'Neill WHISTLER 
 
 35. Sir James GUTHRIE, P.R.S.A. 
 
 36. Jean Francois MILLET 
 
 37. Jean Francois MILLET 
 
 38. Charles Emile JACQUE 
 
 39. Alexandre-Gabriel DECAMPS 
 
 40. Constant TROYON 
 
 41. ANTONELLO DA MESSINA 
 
 42. Jean Baptiste Camille COROT 
 
 43. Jean Baptiste Camille COROT 
 
 44. Jakob MARIS 
 
 45. Josef ISRAELS 
 
 Hampstead Heath. 
 
 Modern Italy — The Pifferari, 
 
 Loch Maree. 
 
 Dunkirk Harbour. 
 
 Glasgow Bridge. 
 
 In Cadzow Forest. 
 
 A Salmon Stream. 
 
 Sword and Dagger Fight. 
 
 Julian Peveril in the Streets of London. 
 
 The Forerunner. 
 
 Danae ; or, The Tower of Brass. 
 
 Portrait of Thomas Carlyle. 
 
 A Highland Funeral. 
 
 Going to Work. 
 
 The Sheepfold. 
 
 The Wane of Day. 
 
 Landscape. 
 
 Returning from Market. 
 
 Adoration of the Magi. 
 
 Pastorale — Souvenir d'ltalie. 
 
 Woodcutters. 
 
 A Dutch Town. 
 
 The Frugal Meal. 
 
Note 
 
 The following Plates have been engraved and printed by 
 Messrs. T. & R. Annan & Sons, Glasgow: Numbers I, 
 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, ii, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 24, 34, 36, 38, 
 42, 45. The following have been engraved and printed 
 by Messrs. The Art Reproduction Co., Plough Court, 
 London: Numbers 2, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 
 
 2 5 to 33> 35' 37' 39' 4°' 4 1 * 43' 44- 
 
Public Art in Glasgow 
 
 HE Art Collection of the City of Glasgow as 
 it now exists had its beginning as far back 
 as the second half of the seventeenth century. 
 In the year 1627 a new Tolbooth or Town's- 
 house was completed to take the place of the earlier 
 Pretorium, and for the decoration of the Council chamber 
 therein, royal portraits which still form part of the Cor- 
 poration collection, were from time to time obtained. In 
 the year 1670 the Town Council resolved to purchase 
 from London portraits of Charles I. and Charles II. " for 
 the Town's use." The portrait of the reigning monarch — 
 the work of Sir Peter Lely — was promptly procured : that 
 of his father was not received till 1677, when it was hung 
 in the " Councell-hous with the rest now thair." What 
 " the rest " may have included we have now no means of 
 discovering, for there is no record of the acquisition of any 
 
 A I 
 
Commencement of the Collection 
 
 picture previous to that of Charles II. But as the series 
 of royal effigies which occupied the walls of the Council 
 House embraces a portrait of James VI. and I. inscribed 
 and dated 1618 we may conclude that it formed one of 
 " the rest." Although the magistrates of Glasgow were 
 stern and unbending Covenanters and Presbyterians of the 
 truest blue, they manifested in their eagerness to obtain 
 royal portraits a facile loyalty worthy of the Vicar of 
 Bray. That of james II., the bigoted Romanist and 
 persecutor of the Covenanters, was actually purchased in 
 1683 whilst he was yet Duke of York and Lord High 
 Commissioner for Scotland. Afterwards, though sometimes 
 posthumously, portraits of the successive monarchs were 
 obtained, till the series ended with a version of Allan 
 Ramsay's portrait of George III., received in 1764. 
 
 The only portrait of a personage beneath royal dignity 
 admitted into the gallery of the Town Hall was that of 
 Archibald, Duke of Argyll, which was painted for the 
 Corporation in 1756; but Macallum Mohr was, of course, 
 entitled to rank with princes. In 1 8 1 2 a marble statue 
 of William Pitt, by John Flaxman, R.A., was subscribed 
 for by citizens and offered to the Magistrates and Council 
 
 for conservation by the Town Council as a tribute of 
 
 2 
 
The Foulis Academy 
 
 veneration to that illustrious statesman, and the Council 
 agreed that the statue should be placed " in the east end 
 of the Town Hall during pleasure." These portraits and 
 the Pitt statue now form part of the Corporation Art 
 Collection. Justly, the noble work of Flaxman is regarded 
 as the chief ornament of the Sculpture Hall, and one of 
 the greatest triumphs of portrait statuary existing. 
 
 As affecting the claims of Glasgow to be a centre of 
 art influence, although in no way related to the munici- 
 pality, it is proper to notice the establishment in 1753 
 of the Glasgow Academy of the Fine Arts by the brothers 
 Robert and Andrew Foulis, the celebrated printers. That 
 Academy was the first effective art school in Scotland, 
 and, though disastrous to its promoters and patrons, it 
 exercised a distinct influence on the progress of art culture 
 in Scotland. Into this project, as into their printing, the 
 Foulis brothers entered with the most serious and earnest 
 determination. Numerous visits were made to the Continent 
 to procure information and examples of paintings, drawings, 
 prints and plaster casts for furnishing the school, and 
 instructors in modelling, painting and engraving were 
 engaged. In 1761 an open-air exhibition of pictures, 
 
 partly the work of the Academy, was held within the inner 
 
 3 
 
Dr. William Hunter 
 
 court of the College in the High Street. Notwithstanding 
 
 the countenance of the University, and the substantial 
 
 support of some Glasgow merchants, the undertaking failed 
 
 to take firm root, and on the death of Andrew in 1775 
 
 the career of the Academy came to a close. Robert took 
 
 the collection to London, and there disposed of it at a 
 
 great sacrifice, and broken in spirit he died in Edinburgh 
 
 on his way back to Glasgow. So little were the casts of 
 
 statuary esteemed that they were broken up ; and thus 
 
 ended, after twenty-two years of manful but premature 
 
 effort, the first Art School of Scotland. It sent out several 
 
 competent engravers and designers, the best known of its 
 
 pupils having been David Allan, the delineator of Scottish 
 
 life and habits, and James Tassie, the modeller of portraits 
 
 in glass-paste, and the industrious copyist in paste of gems 
 
 of all ages. Tassie's vast traffic in paste reproductions of 
 
 gems has obscured to the public eye his remarkable gifts 
 
 as a modeller of relief portrait heads on a small scale. 
 
 Under the will of the celebrated Dr. William Hunter 
 
 the University of Glasgow became, in 1807, responsible 
 
 custodier of the collections formed by him, which embraced, 
 
 in addition to Natural History, a valuable library of early 
 
 printed books and MSS., his priceless series of coins and 
 
 4 
 
The Hunterian Museum 
 
 medals, a collection of engravings, and a small cabinet of 
 pictures. An appropriate building was erected in the 
 grounds of the old College for the conservation and display 
 of the Hunterian Museum, and thus at an early period in 
 the nineteenth century a small but carefully selected and 
 important collection of pictures was made available for the 
 public of Glasgow. In passing it may be noted that Dr. 
 William Hunter's younger and more famous brother John 
 was the founder of the great Museum of the College of 
 Surgeons in London. 
 
 Public interest in art next came to be fostered by 
 means of periodical exhibitions of contemporary works. 
 The early years of the nineteenth century saw Glasgow 
 flourishing and increasing, with prodigious strides, in popu- 
 lation and wealth. The soil was rapidly becoming adapted 
 for the cultivation of art, which notoriously requires a rich 
 and luxurious seed-bed. The efforts of the Foulis brothers 
 were distinctly premature, for they were put forth just as 
 the city was beginning its great industrial and commercial 
 career. But now wealth was abundant, and with it came 
 that cultured leisure which fosters art. Efforts for the 
 cultivation of public appreciation and taste could con- 
 sequently be put forth with some prospects of success ; 
 
 5 
 
Exhibitions of Contemporary Art 
 
 and accordingly in 1821 an influential body of gentlemen 
 formed an " Institution for the Promoting and Encouraging 
 of the Fine Arts in the West of Scotland." The activities 
 of this Institution were, however, limited to holding 
 exhibitions in two successive years, 1821 and 1822, when 
 it unaccountably ceased. Undaunted by this failure, the 
 Glasgow Dilettanti Society was formed in 1825, anc ^ m 
 1828 held its first West of Scotland Exhibition of the 
 works of living artists, and the Exhibitions of this Society 
 continued, in regular succession, till 1838, in which year 
 it ceased to struggle with and for an unresponsive public. 
 Once more, in 1840, a public body aiming at the fostering 
 of Art mainly by means of Exhibitions was constituted in 
 Glasgow under the name of the West of Scotland Academy. 
 It was a mixed body of artists and laymen, the artists 
 being grouped as Academicians and Associates of the 
 Academy respectively in bold emulation of the chartered 
 bodies controlling Academic Art in London and Edinburgh. 
 The West of Scotland Academy held its first annual 
 exhibition in 1841 and its thirteenth in 1853. It then 
 became too enfeebled to continue its functions, and after 
 some tentative efforts at reconstitution and the acquisition 
 
 of permanent premises it ceased to exist. The want of a 
 
 6 
 
The Institute of the Fine Arts 
 
 local habitation was indeed a chief source of the weakness 
 and ultimate failure of these organisations, and recognising 
 this a new association was projected whose first aim was 
 to provide a building in which art exhibitions could be 
 carried on in an adequate manner. The project, however, 
 never got beyond the stage of architectural plans, but 
 meantime two exhibitions in the winter seasons of 1853-4 
 and 1854-5 were organised in the hope of stimulating 
 public interest and personal generosity. But the nation at 
 that time was in the throes of the Crimean War, and the 
 clang of arms deafened the public ear to the gentle voice 
 of art. 
 
 At this point in time, the story of the permanent 
 collections of the Corporation comes in, but it may be 
 convenient to continue and end the narrative of the 
 Associations which had for their main object annual 
 exhibitions of the works of living artists. After 1855 
 six years passed without any exhibition in Glasgow, 
 and then came the formation of the Institute of the Fine 
 Arts and its first annual show of contemporary art in 
 the spring of 1861. The object of the Association was 
 and is to diffuse among all classes a taste for art 
 
 generally, but especially for contemporary art, and this 
 
 7 
 
The Royal Glasgow Institute 
 
 purpose the Institute works by means of Annual Exhibitions. 
 These, with occasional extra and special exhibitions, were 
 regularly held from 1861 till the year 1880 in the 
 Corporation Galleries, thereafter till 1904 in Galleries 
 specially erected by the Institute, and since that year 
 again in the Corporation Galleries which meantime had 
 been vacated by the Corporation. In the year 1879 the 
 Institute was incorporated under the " Companies Act," 
 and in 1896 Queen Victoria, in recognition of the services 
 rendered to art during its thirty-six years' existence, 
 graciously empowered it to use the title " Royal Glasgow 
 Institute of the Fine Arts," by which it is now known. The 
 Royal Institute has had on the whole a successful career. 
 It has certainly succeeded in leavening the community and 
 thereby benefiting the cause of art, and at the same time 
 it has met fair financial prosperity. At one period it 
 was able to invest in the purchase of several contemporary 
 pictures with the view of forming a permanent gallery 
 of modern art, but when the necessity arose for providing 
 the Institute with its own permanent premises these works 
 were swallowed up in the mortar-tub. 
 
 That these disinterested and patriotic Associations did 
 much to beget and foster an appreciation of Art in 
 
 8 
 
Archibald M'Lellan 
 
 Glasgow cannot be doubted. Around the Exhibitions a 
 native race of painters rallied, and to them artists from 
 afar were attracted, and these by degrees came to be 
 recognised and famed far and wide as the " Glasgow 
 School." The temporary Exhibitions further made a 
 permanent public collection of art not only a possibility, 
 but a necessity. 
 
 The permanent Art Gallery of Glasgow became a 
 realised possession when, on the 15th May, 1856, the Town 
 Council resolved to acquire by purchase a block of buildings 
 with three exhibition saloons, in Sauchiehall Street, with the 
 collection of pictures and sculpture, at that time known as 
 the M'Lellan Galleries. The works of art had been 
 collected and the buildings erected by Mr. Archibald 
 M'Lellan, coachbuilder in Glasgow, and to that gentleman 
 is due the honour and credit of being the real founder of 
 the Art Gallery of the Corporation of Glasgow. Mr. 
 M'Lellan, who was a native of the city, born in 1796, 
 was a man of enlightened public spirit, interesting himself 
 in all movements for the beautification of his birthplace, 
 and for the promotion of art and culture in the com- 
 munity. In public life he occupied for a time the office 
 
 of Deacon Convener of Trades, and in that capacity not 
 b 9 
 
Formation of the M'Lellan Collection 
 
 only controlled the Incorporated Trades of the city, but 
 also was a member of the Town Council. He also became 
 an elected member of the Town Council and a Magistrate. 
 In his early days the neglected and humiliating condition 
 of Glasgow's proudest monument, the Cathedral, occupied 
 his distressed attention, and in 1833 he published an 
 elaborate Essay on the Cathedral Church of Glasgow a?id 
 a History of the See^ which directly led to the numerous 
 changes which since that day have been wrought in and 
 about that venerable structure. Possessed of wide know- 
 ledge, catholic sympathies, and keen discrimination in art, 
 M'Lellan devoted the best part of his life as well as of 
 his means to the accumulation of the remarkable collection 
 of pictures and other works of art he left behind him. 
 The M'Lellan Collection was formed during the second 
 quarter of the present century, at a time when the value 
 and permanent importance of the productions of the great 
 masters were recognised by few, when it was not yet the 
 fashion to patronise Rembrandt, Rubens, and Raphael, and 
 when it was quite unnecessary for the reputation of culture 
 to talk glibly of Botticelli and the Bellini. Pictures of 
 permanent value could at that period be acquired by persons 
 
 of moderate means, and it is to the credit of M'Lellan 
 
 10 
 
The M'Lellan Bequest 
 
 that he could recognise the true value and the enduring 
 charms of works of art though they were neglected by 
 dealers and scorned by the crowd. 
 
 It was the ambition of Mr. M'Lellan to establish in 
 Glasgow a Gallery of Art for the benefit of his fellow- 
 citizens, and to bequeath and dedicate it for public use 
 at the time of his death. With this view, in connection 
 with the erection of the block of shops and dwelling- 
 houses facing Sauchiehall Street, he had three exhibition 
 saloons or galleries thrown out into the court behind. 
 While these buildings were in progress in November, 
 1853, Mr. M'Lellan, being yet under sixty years of age, 
 executed a deed of settlement, the introductory clauses of 
 which express the purpose of the testator. It proceeds : 
 " I, Archibald M'Lellan, coachbuilder in Glasgow, con- 
 sidering that I have, for thirty years, spent much of my 
 spare time in making a collection of pictures, illustrative 
 of the characteristics and progress of the various schools 
 of painting in Italy, Germany, Spain, the Low Countries, 
 and France, since the revival of art in the fifteenth 
 century ; and believing that, imperfect as any such col- 
 lection formed by a private individual must necessarily be, 
 
 it still may be of some use to those who are desirous of 
 
 1 1 
 
The Deed of Settlement 
 
 studying the progress of art ; and also believing that it 
 may be made to form the foundation for a more extensive 
 and complete collection, through contributions from those 
 who have more means and better judgment to select fine 
 examples of the respective schools, and being impressed 
 with the belief that the study of what are called the 
 ' Fine Arts,' is eminently conducive to the elevation and 
 refinement of all classes, as well as intimately connected 
 with the manufacturing and mercantile prosperity of the 
 community, from these various motives, and on account 
 of my long connection with Glasgow and its various 
 public bodies, and as a humble testimony of my attach- 
 ment to its citizens, and my desire for their welfare and 
 elevation, so far as it is in my power to aid in the 
 promotion of these, I have resolved to devote my said 
 collection to public use and exhibition, and to make the 
 same over, for that purpose, to trustees, who shall have the 
 sole control and management thereof." He then proceeds 
 specifically to bequeath his collection " for behoof of the 
 citizens of Glasgow in all time coming," to the Lord 
 Provost, the Dean of Guild, the Deacon Convener, and 
 to other holders of office with three nominated trustees ; 
 and he enters into minute details as to the conservation and 
 
 12 
 
Conditions of the Bequest 
 
 treatment of works, the maintenance of a pure atmosphere 
 
 and equable temperature around them, the number of 
 
 visitors to be admitted at any one time to the saloons, 
 
 the conditions under which further gifts to the gallery 
 
 may be accepted, and other points. The bequest further 
 
 included the three saloons specially erected for receiving 
 
 the pictures, and the trustees were empowered, should the 
 
 rooms become from any cause unsuitable, to sell the 
 
 structure and remove the collection to another and more 
 
 advantageous situation. 
 
 The document is obviously the work of a man of 
 
 delicate and refined taste, imbued with a high appreciation 
 
 of the mission of Art, modestly proud of his achievements, 
 
 and not without some suspicion as to the possibility that 
 
 his treasures might not be so carefully guarded by their 
 
 future custodiers as by himself. Mr. M'Lellan's life labour 
 
 and his testamentary deed afford an illustration of life's 
 
 little ironies. On his premature death, within a year after 
 
 executing the deed, it was found that his affairs, through 
 
 his building scheme, and probably also his passion for 
 
 pictures, were so involved that it was impossible at once 
 
 to satisfy his creditors, and carry into effect the purposes 
 
 of his trust. Under the circumstances the Town Council, 
 
 r 3 
 
Purchase by the Town Council 
 
 after much negotiation, and amid a storm of opposition, 
 
 agreed to purchase the entire block of buildings, with 
 
 the three saloons and the collection of pictures, for the 
 
 sum of ^44,500, being ^29,500 for the buildings and 
 
 ^15,000 for the pictures. This amount bore no adequate 
 
 relation to the value either of the works of art or of the 
 
 buildings acquired, but it was sufficient to satisfy all 
 
 claims on Mr. M'Lellan's estate. It would be possible 
 
 at this day to select from the M'Lellan collection a single 
 
 picture which, exposed for sale, might nearly, if not quite, 
 
 realise the sum paid for all his works of art. 
 
 In this way the Town Council, in May, 1856, became 
 
 somewhat reluctant patrons of art, and the owners of an 
 
 art gallery rather against their will. The circumstances 
 
 associated with the transference of the properties were not 
 
 without compensations. Had Mr. M'Lellan's will been 
 
 carried into effect, the Town Council would have had little 
 
 concern with, and no responsibility for, the gallery he 
 
 bequeathed to the city, which would have been, in the 
 
 hands of a semi-private but shifting body of trustees, 
 
 without endowments for its adequate administration ; and 
 
 probably, after a brief spasmodic burst of public gratitude 
 
 and admiration, it would have declined into a mouldy and 
 
 14 
 
Advantages of Purchase 
 
 melancholy condition of neglect, without the stimulus of 
 administrative energy, or the elements of vitality. 
 
 As it was, the Council were by the purchase left with 
 an entirely free hand and unfettered control of the property. 
 They had the right to sell the pictures if they so willed, 
 and they were also entitled to use the halls and buildings 
 for any purpose they deemed proper. Of both these 
 rights they subsequently took advantage : more than once 
 sales were made of pictures weeded out of the M'Lellan 
 collection, while for many years the galleries were used 
 for all manner of revenue-yielding objects other than, 
 and sometimes inconsistent with, proper art gallery uses. 
 But the important fact remained that the structure and 
 collections were public property, and a time did come 
 when both Council and public fully realised the high 
 responsibility of the charge they had undertaken, and the 
 incalculable value of the collection they had acquired. 
 
 There was method in M'Lellan's collecting. His 
 ambition was to form a balanced group of works in which 
 the great schools of European Art should be fairly repre- 
 sented, and for a man of moderate means, and taking into 
 account the time at his command, the result was mar- 
 vellous. He acquired a fair representation of the Italian 
 
Pictures in the M'Lellan Collection 
 
 schools of the best period, in which Venetian works were 
 
 numerous and important. He had a few Netherlandish 
 
 pictures, one of which at least has deservedly become world 
 
 famous, and of later Flemish works he accumulated an 
 
 attractive series. The collection was specially rich in 
 
 works of the Dutch masters, from Rembrandt downwards. 
 
 French pictures, although not wanting, were insufficiently 
 
 represented, and the same may be said of Spanish and 
 
 German works. Nor was the collection strong in native 
 
 productions, either English or Scottish, although Sir Joshua 
 
 Reynolds was well represented, and there were good 
 
 examples of Richard Wilson, George Morland, Sir Benjamin 
 
 West, Richard Westall, Sir David Wilkie, and Zoffany ; 
 
 and of some artists of secondary standing. 
 
 Within a month after the purchase of the collection 
 
 an enlightened citizen, Mr. William Euing, in redemption 
 
 of a pledge he had given, conditional on the completion 
 
 of the acquisition, presented thirty works selected from his 
 
 own gallery to the collection. Many years later, in 1874, 
 
 the remainder of Mr. Euing's collection was added by 
 
 bequest, and now the Euing pictures form a notable feature 
 
 in the collection. Mr. Euing bequeathed at the same time 
 
 an extensive and unique collection of editions of the Holy 
 
 16 
 
The Euing Collection 
 
 Bible to the University of Glasgow, and a most valuable 
 musical library and collection of musical instruments to the 
 Anderson's College, in which also he founded a chair of 
 music. Mr. Euing's contributions to the collections, gift 
 and bequest combined, numbered nearly one hundred 
 pictures. These formed a most useful addition to the 
 M'Lellan collection, being composed principally of the 
 productions of native artists, in which the M'Lellan 
 collection was weak. Mr. Euing manifestly had not 
 collected with the same ambitious object which animated 
 Mr. M'Lellan. His pictures were not from the easels of 
 great artists, nor were they always chefs cPceuvre of the 
 individual artists. They had been accumulated for the 
 decoration of a private house, but they were selected by 
 a man of cultivated taste bold enough to exercise an inde- 
 pendent judgment. The Euing collection also embraced 
 a number of Dutch and Flemish pictures, mostly by artists 
 not represented in the M'Lellan collection, and these works 
 accentuated the predominance of the Netherlandish Schools 
 in the Gallery. 
 
 Having thus become the possessors of a Gallery of 
 Art, the Corporation of Glasgow do not appear to have 
 
 known what to do with their treasure. It was not till 
 
 c 17 
 
The M'Lellan Galleries 
 
 the year 1859 that an Act of Parliament was obtained 
 under which the Magistrates and Council, as Parks and 
 Galleries Trustees, were empowered to maintain the Galleries 
 of Art and Corporation Halls in the city, and to devote 
 a portion of the rate leviable under that Act for this 
 purpose. The Town Council indeed had an eye more to 
 pecuniary profit than to aesthetic culture in dealing with 
 their property, as the introduction of the expression Cor- 
 poration Halls in the Act of Parliament indicates, for 
 these Halls were none other than the Exhibition Galleries 
 of M'Lellan. 
 
 About the year 1867 private tenants, excepting the 
 occupiers of shops, were displaced from the M'Lellan pro- 
 perty, and a certain amount of reconstruction was under- 
 taken to adapt the upper floors to public purposes. The 
 whole of the eastern section over the shops was rented 
 to the School of Art. In the western section the upper 
 floor was transformed into galleries and exhibition halls ; 
 and on the first floor was found accommodation for the 
 libraries and committee rooms of the Philosophical Society 
 and the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, with a 
 lecture room en suite. These alterations were undertaken 
 
 principally on the recommendation of Mr. C. Heath Wilson, 
 
 18 
 
Reconstruction and Extension 
 
 and while the changes still left a large proportion of the 
 property rent-yielding subjects, they added greatly to the 
 accommodation for the exhibition of pictures. The whole 
 cost of the structural alterations was less than ^4,000, so 
 that the capital expenditure on both pictures and buildings 
 remained under ^50,000. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that the original galleries, 
 and their extensions also, were equally regarded by the 
 Council as rent producers, and from the first the halls 
 were let to private applicants for a great variety of purposes, 
 such as public lectures, balls, concerts, bazaars, and other 
 similar entertainments. These applications of a gallery of 
 art were manifestly inconsistent with its proper use as a 
 public institution ; but the whole matter was looked at, 
 in the early days, merely as a question of investment, and 
 in that sense it was not a success. From 1861 onwards 
 the Glasgow Institution of Fine Arts was a tenant for its 
 annual exhibitions, and for many years these exhibitions 
 were the only steady artistic use to which the galleries 
 were devoted. 
 
 At the time the extension of the galleries was under- 
 taken a spasmodic effort was made to place the collections 
 
 and the public relation to them on an improved footing. 
 
 19 
 
Neglect and Decay 
 
 The new galleries were inaugurated with an exhibition of 
 local historical portraits, and a collection of extreme 
 importance for the illustration of the history of Glasgow 
 and the West of Scotland was brought together, of which 
 a most valuable catalogue was prepared by Mr. Charles 
 Heath Wilson. The exhibition, however, was a pecuniary 
 failure, and on Mr. Wilson resigning the curatorship of 
 the galleries — an office he held for a short period only 
 conjointly with the directorship of the School of Art — 
 a decreasing interest was manifested in the institution, and 
 it gradually fell into the most regrettable and detrimental 
 condition of public neglect. The landlord attitude of the 
 Town Council came to overshadow and crush out all 
 other relations and responsibilities, and the M'Lellan pictures 
 and other art property which had been added by gift and 
 uest were regarded as mere ornamental adjuncts — some- 
 times, it is to be feared, as unwelcome encumbrances — to 
 the many rent-yielding purposes for which the halls were 
 used. It can scarcely be wondered that under such a 
 course of treatment the pictures fell into disrepute, people 
 began to doubt whether they were even ornamental, and 
 their presence was regarded as a hindrance to the free 
 
 use of the halls for miscellaneous purposes. 
 
 20 
 
Mrs. Graham-Gilbert's Bequest 
 
 In the face of these very untoward conditions the 
 institution continued to receive from time to time bequests 
 and donations of important pictures and of collections of 
 great value. In April, 1877, there was submitted to the 
 Town Council an excerpt from the will of Mrs. Graham- 
 Gilbert of Yorkhill in the following terms : "I direct 
 my trustees to deliver over the following specific legacies, 
 and that within six months after my decease, free of legacy 
 duty or expense of discharge, viz. : to deliver over to 
 the Lord Provost, Bailies and Council of the City of 
 Glasgow for the time, such of the paintings in oil, under 
 the exceptions after mentioned, as may be in Yorkhill 
 House at the time of my death, and as they may select, 
 under an obligation to preserve the same in trust for the 
 Corporation of the said City, and for being exhibited to 
 the inhabitants thereof, also the marble statue of my late 
 husband by Brodie of Edinburgh, and which paintings in 
 oil and statue shall be preserved and placed by themselves 
 in one room in the M'Lellan or any other Gallery belonging 
 to the said Corporation, and bear the name of John 
 Graham-Gilbert, and also at the same time to pay to the 
 said Lord Provost, Bailies, and Council of the City of 
 
 Glasgow for the time, the sum of two hundred pounds 
 
 21 
 
John Graham-Gilbert, R.S.A. 
 
 sterling for the purpose of framing or otherwise putting 
 in order the paintings which they may select as afore- 
 said . . . specially excepting from the said paintings in 
 oil from which selection may be made as aforesaid for the 
 City of Glasgow, the portraits of my uncle, my mother, 
 my sister, and myself, all which shall remain at Yorkhill 
 House, and be the property of the heir of entail for the 
 time being of the estate of Yorkhill." 
 
 Mr. John Graham-Gilbert, R.S.A. , originally John 
 Graham, who assumed the surname Gilbert when his 
 wife succeeded to the estate of Yorkhill, in the City of 
 Glasgow, was a much and deservedly esteemed artist, 
 who devoted himself chiefly to portrait painting. He 
 had throughout his whole career taken a keen interest in 
 the promotion of art in the West of Scotland, and he 
 had an unfailing belief in the value and importance of 
 the Corporation Collection. Possessed of ample means, 
 Mr. Graham-Gilbert followed the example of M'Lellan in 
 forming a cabinet of works, many of which are now 
 esteemed among the chief treasures of the Glasgow 
 Gallery. Mr. Graham-Gilbert died in 1866, but, with 
 commendable propriety, he left it to his wife, through 
 
 whom his wealth came, to deal with his art accumulations 
 
 22 
 
The Turning Point in the History 
 
 according to her will. The Graham-Gilbert bequest, as 
 selected and handed over to the Corporation, included 
 seventy original works, principally by Dutch and Italian 
 masters, forty pictures by himself, and twenty-seven copies 
 and studies he had made from well-known pictures by 
 old masters. 
 
 The reception of the Graham-Gilbert bequest was an 
 epoch and turning point in the history of the Galleries. 
 A new and proper view of the functions of the institution 
 was taken by the Council ; and the duty they owed at 
 once to the public, and to the generous donors of works 
 of incalculable value, was now recognised. Thenceforward 
 the resolute policy of the committee was to render the 
 collections properly available and useful to the community, 
 and to rehabilitate the sadly tarnished reputation of the 
 works of art which, for more than twenty years, had been 
 neglected and contemned. But the reputation of a picture 
 is more easily injured than restored ; and in matters of 
 art, as well as in questions of theology, the public take 
 their opinions from their masters, heaping, in unsparing 
 measure, buffets and insults on what they find neglected 
 and depreciated by their leaders. The greatest triumphs 
 
 of Raphael or Rembrandt would come very badly out of 
 
 23 
 
State of the Collections 
 
 twenty years' obloquy, and a few well-directed and per- 
 sistent sneers would work havoc with the reputation of the 
 most famous collection. The Town Council of Glasgow 
 had to repair the injuries of many years. Not only had 
 they the arduous task of re-establishing a lost reputation, 
 but they had also to reckon with the material injuries 
 which result from a long course of ignorant and careless 
 treatment, from alternate exposure on walls, and storing in 
 closets, from all the variations of heat and cold, damp 
 and dry air, of light and darkness ; from the very evils 
 against which poor M'Lellan had warned his trustees, and 
 sought to guard his beloved works. 
 
 It was a hard task to get the Glasgow public to believe 
 in the high quality and value of their own art treasures. 
 Whatever may have been the condition of certain M'Lellan 
 pictures when they passed into the hands of the Corporation, 
 twenty years of neglect and abuse had worked such havoc 
 as to render them hopeless wrecks. These, under com- 
 petent advice, were withdrawn from the galleries, and of 
 the pictures deemed worthy of preservation a catalogue 
 was prepared and printed for public use. Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir) J. C. Robinson, then the Queen's Surveyer of Pictures, 
 
 was invited by the Town Council to examine and report 
 
 24 
 
Sir J. C. Robinson's Report 
 
 on the condition and value of the works, and the highly 
 eulogistic opinion of that connoisseur had a marked influence 
 in determining the trend of public opinion in favour of 
 the gallery. " The City of Glasgow," says his report, 
 " has been especially favoured in having been the recipient 
 of two bequests of collections of Ancient Pictures, a con- 
 siderable proportion of which are really valuable and 
 authentic works of great Masters. These may be estimated 
 to number from one hundred to one hundred and twenty 
 pictures, and I apprehend that the aggregate constitutes 
 the most interesting and valuable provincial public collection 
 of such works in the kingdom ; nor do I think I am in any 
 way exaggerating when I say, that considering certain works 
 which have found their resting-place at Glasgow, I think 
 the Corporation Gallery, when better known, will take rank 
 as a collection of European importance." 
 
 Thenceforward the Galleries were strictly and exclusively 
 reserved for their legitimate uses : all miscellaneous meetings, 
 balls, and banquets were prohibited, and the outside bodies 
 which had obtained a footing within the halls were invited 
 to find accommodation in other quarters. Under a gentle 
 and friendly compulsion the Institute of Fine Arts found 
 a permanent house of its own, and, as already said, closed 
 
 D 25 
 
Public Appreciation of the Collections 
 
 its last exhibition in the Corporation Halls at the end of 
 April, 1879. The Galleries thereafter were opened free 
 to the public under stated conditions and during fixed 
 hours. The pictures were treated with due respect, freed 
 from accumulated dust and from discoloured varnish ; frames 
 were repaired, and the more important works were at once 
 put under glass to protect them from the smoke and acid- 
 laden atmosphere of Glasgow. The reputation of the 
 collection was not a little enhanced and extended by the 
 free lending of certain of the more rare and precious 
 works, from time to time, to the Winter Exhibitions of 
 the Royal Academy, to the Burlington Fine Arts Club's 
 Exhibitions, and to other special exhibitions in London 
 and the provinces. 
 
 No sooner was the value of the art collection of 
 Glasgow patent than was anxiety awakened as to its 
 conservation and proper display. Repeated outbreaks of 
 fire in the shops and other contiguous premises gave 
 alarming notice of one constant menace ; the access to the 
 halls was irremediably bad, the light was deficient, and 
 certain of the apartments were most depressing in their 
 appearance. Many plans and projects for new or recon- 
 structed buildings were put before the Corporation, all 
 
 26 
 
The Question of Accommodation 
 
 tending to mature the question of accommodation, but 
 none being carried to a practical issue. But finally in 
 1886 the suggestion was made that at least the nucleus 
 of a building might be obtained by the organisation of a 
 great temporary exhibition in Kelvingrove Park ; and, with 
 the sanction of the Town Council, the Museum and Galleries 
 Sub-Committee set themselves earnestly to outline the 
 conditions of such an undertaking. How the work of 
 organising that exhibition was carried forward, and what 
 success attended it, are questions which do not concern 
 us. The object the Museum Committee had in view is 
 thus concisely stated in their annual report for 1886. 
 " Among the motives which impelled the Committee to 
 take action in the matter was the expectation that the 
 exhibition might prove a financial success, and leave at 
 the close a large balance of profit which could be most 
 fittingly disposed of by being devoted towards providing 
 permanent buildings for the municipal collections of science 
 and art. In that view the Executive Council of the 
 Exhibition have coincided, and in the Articles of Asso- 
 ciation it is provided that any surplus which may arise 
 in connection with the exhibition shall be applied in or 
 
 towards erecting, equipping and maintaining a Gallery of 
 
 27 
 
The Exhibition of 1888 
 
 Art or a Museum of Science and Art, or otherwise in 
 promoting science and art in Glasgow in such way and 
 manner as shall be determined by the members of the 
 Exhibition Association, at or before the time of dissolution 
 thereof, or in default thereof by the Magistrates and 
 Council of Glasgow." 
 
 The exhibition was held during the summer of 1888, 
 and its financial success far exceeded the expectations of its 
 original promoters. When all accounts had been adjusted, 
 it was found that there remained in the hands of the 
 Exhibition Association a clear surplus of ^46,000, a fat 
 carcase around which many hungry vultures immediately 
 began to scream. The sum, however, was both well 
 secured and well defended, and the Association, instead 
 of resting content with the gratifying outcome of their 
 labours, in a most patriotic manner offered to undertake 
 the task of at least doubling the amount by public 
 subscription. In agreement with the Town Council it 
 was stipulated that should the Exhibition Association be 
 successful in raising the available fund to not less than 
 ^92,000, the Corporation should grant a sufficient site 
 free of cost in Kelvingrove Park, on which to erect 
 
 a Museum and Art Gallery Building ; and that the 
 
 28 
 
The Site of the New Gallery 
 
 administration of the fund, the adjusting of the scheme of 
 building, the selection of an architect, and the execution 
 of the work should devolve on an Executive Committee 
 elected in the proportion of two-thirds from the Corpora- 
 tion, and one-third from the Exhibition Association. On 
 the completion of their task the Executive Committee 
 were pledged to transfer the buildings simpliciter to the 
 Corporation. 
 
 These and other conditions of minor importance being 
 agreed to, the Exhibition Association under a new name — 
 " The Association for the Promotion of Art and Music 
 in the City of Glasgow " — proceeded with vigour to carry 
 out the first part of their undertaking, the raising of 
 subscriptions for the building fund. Within the prescribed 
 time — twelve months — they had gathered considerably more 
 than the minimum ^46,000 to which they were pledged. 
 In consequence they were now in a position to claim a 
 site in Kelvingrove Park, and to proceed with the structure. 
 As the result of a public competition the plans submitted 
 by Messrs. Simpson and Milner Allen, of London, in June, 
 1892, on the advice of Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, R.A., 
 were selected. The architect's estimate for the completed 
 
 building was ^154,398, or leaving two quadrangles 
 
 29 
 
The Cost of the Buildings 
 
 uncovered, ^119,775; the less sanguine local surveyors 
 put these figures at ^170,320 and ^130,450 respectively, 
 and we shall find that even these larger amounts were far 
 within the sums asked by the lowest offers for the work. 
 But with ^113,000 in hand and subscriptions still coming 
 in, the Executive Committee considered themselves well 
 entitled to go on with an erection which they were assured 
 would cost only ^120,000, and accordingly contracts for 
 the basement were issued. No doubt the Executive were 
 a little staggered when they found that the estimate for 
 this preliminary section, accepted in June, 1893, amounted 
 to ^22,225, and in the end cost somewhat more. Tenders 
 for the superstructure were invited in June, 1895, when 
 it was found that the total cost of the structure, including 
 basement, would be ^198,420, if finished with oak and 
 internal stone-work, or omitting the two courts and 
 finishing in pine and plaster the expenditure would amount 
 to ^154,000. The whole sum, from beginning to end, 
 at the disposal of the Executive Committee at this time 
 did not exceed ^129,600, made up of Exhibition surplus 
 with interest ^54,600, and subscriptions with interest 
 ^75,000. The Committee found themselves in the awkward 
 
 position of having spent almost ^28,000 in connection 
 
 30 
 
Financial Difficulties 
 
 with a building which, to carry forward and leave only 
 partly finished in a second-rate manner, would require 
 nearly ^25,000 more than they possessed, while to 
 complete the structure in a worthy manner would demand 
 the expenditure of about ^70,000 beyond their resources. 
 The flow of subscriptions, as is the habit of such flows, 
 dwindled from the very first, and had long ceased ; public 
 charity had been directed into new channels, which are 
 always being dug in a great city for the capturing of that 
 coveted stream, and new enthusiasms had taken possession 
 of the giving community. In their dilemma the only 
 course open to the Executive Committee was to lay their 
 case simply before the Town Council, asking that body 
 either to guarantee the funds necessary for the completion 
 of the buildings, or to take over the work done, the funds 
 on hand, and the obligations, and deal with the building 
 themselves. The Town Council elected to take over the 
 work, and in the end it was practically finished at a cost 
 of ^256,000, towards which Exhibition surplus and sub- 
 scriptions, with interest, contributed /*i 3 3,000. 
 
 Partly with the purpose of inaugurating with due dis- 
 tinction the new Art Gallery and Museum building, and 
 
 not a little stimulated with the hope of substantial pecuniary 
 
 3 1 
 
The Exhibition of 1901 
 
 gain, a public movement for holding a second Glasgow 
 International Exhibition was started, which in February, 
 1897, received the cordial sanction of the Corporation. 
 Thereupon all the necessary preliminary steps were under- 
 taken, an Association was formed, office-bearers of all grades 
 were elected, and a guarantee fund was subscribed, which 
 in the end reached the sum of more than half a million. 
 The Exhibition was opened with Royal State on the 
 2nd May, 1901, and, like its predecessor, was financially 
 as well as otherwise prosperous and successful. The per- 
 manent structure was appropriately devoted to the exhibition 
 of a loan collection of pictorial art of the century then 
 closed, to a collection of art objects of all times and 
 lands, and to a series illustrative of Scottish archaeology 
 and history. As an outcome of their activity, the Exhibition 
 Association was able to hand over to the Corporation a 
 surplus of ^39,000, with temporary buildings, the material 
 of which yielded ^6,400 additional. These sums remain 
 in the hands of the Corporation under like terms to the 
 surplus of the 1888 Exhibition, for the promotion of art 
 and science under the Corporation. 
 
 The doors of the Corporation Art Galleries in Sauchiehall 
 
 Street, the original home of the art collection in Glasgow, 
 
 32 
 
Removal to Kelvingrove 
 
 were finally closed on 20th September, 1902, and the 
 pictures, statuary, and other art property were removed to 
 the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which was 
 publicly inaugurated as the Central Art Gallery and Museum 
 of the City of Glasgow on the 25 th of October following. 
 The popularity of this institution has been unprecedented, 
 more than a million and a quarter of persons having visited 
 it during the first year of its existence. 
 
 In the way of spreading art culture outward and down- 
 ward there must be placed to the credit of the Glasgow 
 Corporation numerous district exhibitions held at intervals 
 in public halls throughout the city. The chief and most 
 attractive feature in these was invariably a collection of 
 pictures. So highly were these exhibitions appreciated that 
 out of them developed the idea of planting branch Museums 
 and Art Galleries in selected localities throughout the city, 
 and the resolution to erect the Green Branch (People's 
 Palace) was the first outcome of that movement. That insti- 
 tution, which embraces a vast Winter Garden as well as a 
 Museum and Art Gallery division, erected at a cost of about 
 ^30,000, was opened to the public in January, 1898. 
 
 In the meantime, whilst this scheme was maturing, the 
 
 Corporation had acquired, by purchase, the grounds of 
 E 33 
 
District Galleries 
 
 Camphill, a large addition to the Queen's Park, on the 
 south side of the city. In the purchase was included the 
 mansion-house of Camphill, which, with little alteration, 
 afforded convenient accommodation for a district Museum 
 and Art Gallery. This opportunity was promptly taken 
 advantage of, and the first permanent district branch was 
 opened in June, 1896. The history of the Tollcross 
 Branch is substantially the same. Tollcross House remained 
 unoccupied for some years after the acquisition of the 
 park in which it stands. After considerable discussion, 
 the Corporation sanctioned the proposal of the Parks 
 Committee that the public rooms of the house should be 
 adapted to the purposes of a local Museum, and the necessary 
 alterations having been made the third local Museum of 
 the city was opened with an exhibition of modern art in 
 June, 1905. And finally a portion of Mosesfield House, 
 on the confines of Springburn Park, in accordance with 
 the desire of its giver (Mr. Hugh Reid), was devoted to 
 Museum and Art Gallery purposes. Thus, at the present 
 moment, the Corporation of Glasgow controls the parent 
 Art Gallery and Museum in Kelvingrove Park, with its 
 four branches in widely separated divisions of the city. 
 
 From the year 1877, when the Graham-Gilbert bequest 
 
 34 
 
The 'Orrock' Gift 
 
 was received, the flow of gifts and bequests has been steady 
 and continuous, some years being marked by additions of 
 such importance as to make marked stages in the history 
 and progress of the artistic undertakings of the Corporation. 
 To mention individual benefactors would be only to present 
 a long and dry list of names. But certain donations and 
 bequests of collections or of individual works of exceptional 
 importance ought to receive brief notice. 
 
 First in time among these is a gift by Mr. James 
 Orrock, the well-known amateur, of a series of fifteen 
 water colours, embracing examples of the works of the 
 early and great English masters — Barret, Varley, De Wint, 
 and Cattermole — besides examples of David Cox, W. H. 
 Hunt, and Bonnington. That gift, received in 1893, laid 
 the foundation of the water-colour series, a department till 
 then practically unrepresented, but now bulking worthily 
 in the collection. 
 
 In the early part of 1896 a remarkable gift was received 
 
 from the sons of James Reid of Hydepark Locomotive 
 
 Works " in affectionate and grateful remembrance of their 
 
 father." It consists of ten of the most valuable pictures 
 
 which adorned the town-house of their deceased parent, 
 
 which had been acquired by him at a cost of ^22,723. 
 
 35 
 
The 'Reid' Memorial Gift 
 
 The pictures thus piously bestowed deserve to be enu- 
 merated : 
 
 " Pastorale — Souvenir d'ltalie." J. B. C. Corot. 
 
 "Modern Italy." J. M. W. Turner, R.A. 
 
 " Hampstead Heath." John Constable, R.A. 
 
 " Cattle Piece." Constant Troyon. 
 
 "The Sculptor's Studio." L. A. Tadema, R.A. 
 
 " The Frugal Meal." Josef Israels. 
 
 " The Farmer's Daughter." W. Q. Orchardson, R.A. 
 
 " Downward Rays." John Linnell, Senior. 
 
 " The Wane of Day." Charles Jacque. 
 
 " Windsor Castle." Patrick Nasmyth. 
 
 To these there was added at a later period a portrait of 
 Mr. James Reid himself, a masterly work by Sir George 
 Reid, P.R.S.A. The Reid gift in many ways was a 
 notable and welcome addition to the collections. Up till 
 this time the gallery was confessedly poor in — it may be 
 almost said it was destitute of — works of significance in 
 relation to modern movements and developments in art, 
 but every one of the Reid pictures had important relations 
 to the artistic history of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In 1900 a similar memorial gift was made by Mr. 
 Thomas Graham Young in honour of his father, Mr. James 
 Young of Kelly, the founder of the Scottish mineral oil 
 
 industry. Mr. Graham Young's gift embraced an important 
 
 36 
 
The 4 Young' Memorial Gift 
 
 early tempera picture of the Florentine School in its original 
 frame, several early Italian and Dutch pictures, modern 
 pictures and engravings, and other valuable works of art 
 in various media. Two years later the importance of the 
 Young Memorial gift was much enhanced by a donation 
 from Mrs. Walker of Limefield — a daughter of Mr. James 
 Young — of a magnificent tondo, " The Virgin and Child 
 with Angels," by Botticelli, also a memorial of her father. 
 
 Among the other benefactions there fall to be enumerated 
 the repeated gifts of Sir Charles Tennant, who presented 
 works of Sir John E. Millais, Sam Bough, R.S.A., and 
 John Phillip, R.A. ; from Mr. William Connal was received 
 the important example of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, " Danae 
 and the Tower of Brass," which adorns the Gallery ; and 
 in Mrs. Urquhart's contribution of two portraits by Raeburn 
 was added to the Gallery one of the most important repre- 
 sentations of female grace and vivacity ever executed by 
 the great Scottish master. 
 
 As distinguished from donations the bequests have been 
 
 not less noteworthy. Under the will of Miss Mary 
 
 M'Kerracher in 1897, the Gallery was amply endowed 
 
 with four examples of the robust landscape art of Sam 
 
 Bough, and similarly in 1901 there was received from the 
 
 37 
 
The 4 Teacher ' and 4 Smellie ' Bequests 
 
 estate of Mrs. Rodger seven large and highly characteristic 
 examples of the romantic landscape art of Horatio 
 M'Culloch, R.S.A. Early in 1898 it was announced that 
 the collection of pictures and " curios " formed by Adam 
 Teacher had been bequeathed unconditionally to the 
 Corporation. The bequest, in addition to various Art objects, 
 comprised 117 pictures of the modern British and Continental 
 Schools. It is specially rich in the highly appreciated 
 works of Alexander Fraser, R.S.A. , and besides contains 
 excellent examples of Sam Bough, Alexander Nasmyth, 
 Colin Hunter, A.R.A., J. Milne Donald, James Docharty, 
 
 A. R.S.A., Erskine Nicol, A.R.A., and many others. 
 
 In 1 go 1, in addition to the bequest of Mrs. Rodger 
 already mentioned, there were received under the Deed of 
 Settlement of Thomas D. Smellie fifty-three pictures, besides 
 a collection of etchings and engravings. Mr. Smellie's bequest 
 includes numerous works by the well-known Glasgow artist, 
 W. L. Leitch, many of which, beyond their artistic import, 
 are of local interest . There are also examples of water- 
 colours by ]. M. W. Turner, David Cox, George Barret, 
 George Cattermole, Horatio M'Culloch, David Roberts, 
 
 B. J. Blommers, William Maris, Josef Israels, Josef Neuhuys, 
 
 and other well-appreciated practitioners of that department 
 
 38 
 
The 4 Macdonald ' Bequest 
 
 of pictorial art. Among the oil paintings are pictures by 
 J. Milne Donald, Alexander Fraser, James Docharty, Sam 
 Bough, and others. 
 
 The year 1903 was signalised also by bequests which 
 added much to the wealth of the Gallery. The pictures 
 given under Deed of Assignation by Bailie A. G. Macdonald 
 subject to the liferent of his wife, became available through 
 the death of that lady. Comprising twenty-three pictures 
 in all, the gift embraces some of the most charming and 
 characteristic of the water-colour drawings of Sam Bough, 
 and most of these, being local, possess topographical as 
 well as artistic value. The examples of the art of W. L. 
 Leitch, Horatio M'Culloch, and John Milne Donald, in 
 the Macdonald collection, are also of high importance as 
 specimens of the productions of eminent local artists. Other 
 bequests of pictures in that year include the masterpiece 
 of Sir James Guthrie, P.R.S.A., "A Highland Funeral," 
 bequeathed by James Gardiner, and " An English Home- 
 stead," attributed to George Morland, received under the 
 will of James Stevenson, LL.D. Carrying out the expressed 
 intention of her husband, Mrs. J. C. Arnot presented in 
 his name four valuable pictures, one of which, " A Salmon 
 
 Stream," is a late masterpiece by James Docharty. 
 
 39 
 
The 4 Donald' and 'Sandby' Bequests 
 
 Foremost among the legacies of 1905, and indeed one 
 of the most important of all after the Graham-Gilbert 
 benefaction, was that intimated by the executors of Mr. 
 James Donald. The Donald bequest consists of forty-three 
 pictures, besides several examples of Chinese porcelain, 
 Italian majolica, and an engraved rock crystal horn with 
 enamel mounts. Among the pictures there are characteristic 
 examples of the work of Velasquez, J. F. Millet, Corot, 
 Troyon, Dupre, Rousseau, Turner, Orchardson, and other 
 artists of equal eminence. The bequest has been made 
 with no hampering conditions, Mr. Donald merely expressing 
 the desire that " the Corporation should see their way to 
 exhibit the pictures and other articles in a manner befitting 
 their importance and value." 
 
 A further bequest deserving of notice was that of 
 Mr. W. A. Sandby, which consisted of five water-colour 
 drawings and one oil painting by Paul Sandby, the father 
 of British water-colour drawing. 
 
 In January, 1905, intimation was made to the Town 
 Council of a bequest by Mr. J. Hamilton, storekeeper, 
 Motherwell, of the whole of his estate, subject to the 
 liferent of his two sisters. The conditions of the bequest 
 
 are thus stated in Mr. Hamilton's Deed of Settlement — 
 
 40 
 
The 4 Hamilton ' and 4 Elder ' Bequests 
 
 " On the death of the longest liver of my said sisters, I direct 
 my trustees to realise my whole estate, and to purchase 
 with the proceeds a collection of Oil Paintings, to be 
 placed in the Glasgow Art Galleries and Museum at Kelvin- 
 grove, and to be presented to the city as ' The Hamilton 
 Bequest ' ; and I authorise my trustees to employ a practical 
 person or persons to assist them in the work of selection, 
 should they think fit to do so." It is understood that 
 the bequest, when the estate is realised, will amount to 
 about ^50,000. Finally, on the death of a public-spirited 
 lady, Mrs. John Elder, who in her lifetime made her mark 
 for good in both Glasgow and Govan, it was intimated 
 that her collection of modern pictures had been bequeathed 
 to the Gallery. In this bequest are included a characteristic 
 portrait by Sir Peter Lely, a grand landscape by Jacques 
 d'Arthois, a Venetian Canal Scene by Canaletto, two cattle 
 pieces by Sidney Cooper, a rocky sea-coast by Peter 
 Graham, a powerful and vast landscape by John Linnell, 
 a flower-piece by Diaz, and works by Corot, Marcus 
 Stone, and several modern Continental painters. 
 
 And whilst the art wealth of Glasgow has been thus 
 inestimably growing through gifts and benefactions, direct 
 purchases by the Corporation have added significant and 
 
 F 4I 
 
Purchases by the Corporation 
 
 important features. In making purchases the main point 
 kept in view has been to acquire a satisfactory representation 
 of the productions of the local artists who unitedly have 
 spread throughout the world the reputation of the " Glasgow 
 School." In this effort again the zeal of the authorities 
 has been stimulated by the generosity of an anonymous 
 benefactor who in successive years contributed first ^"600 
 towards the purchase of modern pictures, and second ^300 
 for acquiring sculpture from the annual exhibitions of the 
 Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts. The happiest and 
 most successful purchase made by the Corporation was 
 undoubtedly Whistler's " Carlyle " acquired in 1891 for 
 one thousand guineas. Later purchases include the well- 
 known " Boar Hunt " by Rubens, which belonged to the 
 Adrian Hope collection, and a pair of charming Boys' 
 Heads, the only representation of the art of Frans Hals 
 possessed by the Gallery. Among the other purchases of 
 the Corporation there are examples of the work of Sir 
 Henry Raeburn, Sir J. Noel Paton, R.S.A., William Stott 
 of Oldham, and as already said pictures by many of the 
 leading members of the Glasgow School. 
 
 It will be seen that the Glasgow collection as it now 
 
 exists has been brought together mainly by gift and bequest, 
 
 42 
 
Value of the Collection 
 
 and that, apart from the M'Lellan pictures, but an insig- 
 nificant proportion of the works came by direct purchase. 
 That a gallery formed in such necessarily haphazard fashion 
 should present some want of balance and many regrettable 
 blanks is inevitable. It cannot be denied that in process of 
 time Glasgow has been endowed with a superabundance of 
 the productions of some painters, and that the collection has 
 been diluted with pictures of minor significance. And yet 
 it is really remarkable how well the pictures from many 
 sources have fitted in to form the Glasgow Gallery into a 
 compact and harmonious whole. Many great names in the 
 history of art, ancient and modern, are still missing from the 
 Glasgow catalogue, and some of the giants are but feebly 
 represented. But the same could be said of the richest 
 galleries in the world. All in all the Glasgow Gallery is 
 one of which the citizens have just reason to be proud ; it 
 has to be taken into account in reckoning the art wealth 
 of the race ; it is a treasure-house for the serious student ; 
 it affords invaluable material for tracing the history of the 
 leading schools of European art, and of following the develop- 
 ments of painting since the sixteenth century ; and to the 
 people generally it is an undying source of that gentle 
 enjoyment which imperceptibly elevates and refines. 
 
 43 
 
Titles of the Pictures 
 
 It may be explained that the titles and attributions of 
 the pictures reproduced in this volume are those given in 
 the official Catalogue of the Glasgow Gallery. That the 
 origin and history of several of these works form the 
 subject of eager debate, we are well aware. But there is 
 no finality in art criticism, and many points in art history 
 yet remain to be unravelled. Into these disputed questions 
 it has not been deemed necessary to enter. The critics 
 themselves are far from agreement ; and whilst controversy 
 continues it is sufficient for the purposes of this publication 
 to accept the current official titles. 
 
 44 
 
Plate II. 
 
 FRANCESCO RAIBOLINI (Called Francia) 
 
 The Nativity 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, ii^ in.; Width, 2o| in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate III. 
 
 FRANCESCO GUARDI 
 1712-1793 
 
 PlAZZETTA OF SaN MaRCO, VENICE 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 1 ft. 7^ in.; Width, 2 ft. 6 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate IV. 
 
 HUGO VAN DER GOES 
 St. Victor with a Donor 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, i ft. 10 in.; Width, i ft. in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate V. 
 
 JAN DE MABUSE 
 
 About 1472-1533 
 
 The Virgin by the Fountain 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. sh in - i Width, 2 ft. 8^ in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate VI. 
 
 FRANS HALS 
 1581 ?-i666 
 
 Two Boys 
 
 Oil Paintings. 
 Each circular panel 11 inches in diameter. 
 
 Purchased, 1894. 
 
Plate VII. 
 
 JAKOB JORDAENS 
 
 1593-1678 
 
 The Fruit Sellers 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. 9^ in.; Width, 5 ft. 1 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate VIII. 
 
 JAN STEEN 
 1626-1679 
 
 Dutch Family Merrymaking 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. in.; Width, 2 ft. \\ in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate IX. 
 
 DAVID TENIERS, THE YOUNGER 
 1610-1694 
 
 A Surgical Case 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 14J in.; Width, io| in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate X. 
 
 ADRIAN VON OSTADE 
 1610-1685 
 
 Peasants Drinking and Smoking 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 13J in.; Width, i2| in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XI. 
 
 PHILIPS WOU WERMAN 
 1614-1668 
 
 Landscape with Horseman 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 14 in.; Width, 16 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XII. 
 
 REMBRANDT 
 
 1606-1669 
 
 A Man in Armour 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 4 ft. 5^ in.; Width, 3 ft. in. 
 
 Graham-Gilbert Collection. 
 
Plate XIII. 
 
 REMBRANDT 
 
 1 606-1 669 
 
 Portrait of Himself 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 2 in.; Width, 1 ft. 8 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XIV. 
 
 JACOB VAN RUYSDAEL 
 
 1628-1682 
 
 View of the Town of Katwyk 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 1 ft. 74 in.; Width, 2 ft. z\ in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XV. 
 
 BARTHOLOMEW VAN DER HELST 
 
 1 6 1 1 or 12-1670 
 
 Portrait of the Dutch Admiral Stellingwerff 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. 7j in.; Width, 2 ft. in. 
 
 Purchased, 1895. 
 
Plate XVI. 
 
 SIR PETER LELY 
 
 1618-1680 
 
 Nell Gwynne 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 4 ft. 2 in.; Width, 3 ft. 4 in. 
 
 Elder Collection. 
 
Plate XVII. 
 
 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P.R.A. 
 
 J723-I792 
 
 Portrait of a Boy 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 6 in.; Width, 2 ft. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XVIII. 
 
 JOHANN ZOFFANY, R.A. 
 1733-1810 
 
 A Family Party, " The Minuet " 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. 3 in.; Width, 4 ft. 1 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XIX. 
 
 RICHARD WILSON, R.A. 
 17 14-1782 
 
 The Convent — Twilight 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. ; Width, 3 ft. 1 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XX. 
 
 GEORGE MORLAND 
 
 1763-1804 
 
 Sea Coast Scene, " Smugglers " 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 12A in.; Width, 15 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XXI. 
 
 DAVID COX 
 
 1783-1859 
 
 The Mill Sluice 
 
 Water-Colour. 
 Height, 10J in.; Width, 13! in. 
 
 Presented by James Orrock, R.I., 1892. 
 
Plate XXII. 
 
 SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A. 
 1756-1823 
 
 Portrait of Mrs. William Urquhart 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 6 in, ; Width, 2 ft. 1 in. 
 
 Presented by her daughter-in-law, Caroline T. Urquhart, 1900. 
 
Plate XXIIL 
 
 JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. 
 
 i 776-1837 
 
 Hampstead Heath 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 1 in.; Width, 3 ft. 2 in. 
 
 The gift of the sons of James Reid of Auchterarder, 1896. 
 
Plate XXIV. 
 
 JOSEPH M. W. TURNER, R.A. 
 i 775-1851 
 
 Modern Italy — The Pifferari 
 
 Oi! Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. ni in.; Width,' 4 ft. 
 
 The gift of the sons of James Reid of Auchterarder, 1896. 
 
Plate XXV. 
 
 HORATIO M'CULLOCH, R.S.A. 
 
 1805-1867 
 
 Loch Maree 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. 7% in.; Width, 6 ft. 
 
 Bequeathed by Mrs. Janet Rodger, 190 1. 
 
Plate XXVI. 
 
 SAM BOUGH, R.S.A. 
 
 1822-1878 
 
 Dunkirk Harbour 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. 4J in. ; Width, 4 ft. 5 in. 
 
 Presented by Sir Charles Tennant, Bart., 190 1. 
 
Plate XXVII. 
 
 SAM BOUGH, R.S.A. 
 
 1822-1878 
 
 Glasgow Bridge 
 
 Water-Colour. 
 Height, 2 ft. 4 in.; Width, 3 ft. 3^ in. 
 
 Bailie Archibald Gray Macdonald Gift, 1903. 
 
Plate XXVIII. 
 
 ALEXANDER FRASER, R.S.A. 
 
 1828-1899 
 
 Cadzow Forest 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft. i-i in.; Width, 4 ft. 1^ in. 
 
 Teacher Collection. 
 
Plate XXIX. 
 
 JAMES DOCHARTY, A.R.S.A. 
 
 1829-1878 
 
 A Salmon Stream 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 11 in.; Width, 3 ft. 11 in. 
 
 Presented by J. C. Arnot, 1903. 
 
Plate XXX. 
 
 JOHN PETTIE, R.A. 
 
 1839-1893 
 
 Sword and Dagger Fight 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 1 ft. 7^ in.; Width, 2 ft. 6£ in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XXXI, 
 
 W. ORCHARDSON, R.A. 
 
 Living Artist 
 Julian Peveril in the Streets of London 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 6 in.; Width, 3 ft. 8 in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XXXII. 
 
 SIR JOHN E. MILLAIS, Bart., P.R.A. 
 
 1829-1896 
 
 The Forerunner 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 4 ft. 7 in.; Width, 2 ft. 8 in. 
 
 Presented by Sir Charles Tennant, Bart., 1903. 
 
Plate XXXIII. 
 
 SIR EDWARD BURNE-JONES, Bart. 
 
 1833-1898 
 
 Danae, or the Tower of Brass 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 7 ft. 7 in.; Width, 3 ft. 8£ in. 
 
 Presented by William Connal, Jun., 1901. 
 
Plate XXXIV. 
 
 JAMES M'NEILL WHISTLER 
 1834-1903 
 
 Portrait of Thomas Carlyle 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 5 ft. 7 in.; Width, 4 ft. 8 in. 
 
 Purchased, 189 1. 
 
Plate XXXV. 
 
 SIR JAMES GUTHRIE, P.R.S.A. 
 
 Living Artist 
 
 A Highland Funeral 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 4 ft. 3 in.; Width, 6 ft. 4 in. 
 
 Bequeathed by James Gardiner, 1903. 
 
Plate XXXVI. 
 
 JEAN FRANgOIS MILLET 
 1814-1875 
 
 Going to Work 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2i in.; Width, 17 in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XXXVII. 
 
 JEAN FRANgOIS MILLET 
 1 8 14-1875 
 
 The Sheepfold 
 
 Drawing. 
 
 Height, 2 ft. 4 in.; Width, 3 ft. 1 in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
 > 
 
Plate XXXVIII. 
 
 CHARLES EMILE JACQUE 
 
 1 8 1 3-1894 
 
 The Wane of Day 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 3$ in.; Width, 3 ft. 2i in. 
 
 The gift of the sons of James Reid of Auchterarder, 1896. 
 
Plate XL. 
 
 CONSTANT TROYON 
 1810-1865 
 
 Returning from Market 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 3 ft.; Width, 2 ft. 4J in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XLI. 
 
 ANTONELLO DA MESSINA 
 
 i44 4 (?)-i493(?) 
 
 Adoration of the Magi 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 20 in. ; Width, 16 in. 
 
 M'Lellan Collection. 
 
Plate XLII. 
 
 JEAN BAPTISTE CAMILLE COROT 
 
 1796-1875 
 
 Pastorale — Souvenir d'Italie 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 5 ft, 7 in. ; Width, 4 ft. 8 in. 
 
 The gift of the sons of James Reid of Auchterarder, 1896. 
 
Plate XLIII. 
 
 JEAN BAPTISTE CAMILLE COROT 
 
 1796-1875 
 
 Woodcutters 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 18^ in.; Width, 25 in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XLIV. 
 
 JAKOB MARIS 
 
 1838-1899 
 
 A Dutch Town 
 
 Water-Colour. 
 Height, 14 in.; Width, 20 in. 
 
 Donald Collection. 
 
Plate XLV. 
 
 TOSEF ISRAELS 
 
 Living Artist 
 The Frugal Meal 
 
 Oil Painting. 
 Height, 2 ft. 10 in. ; Width, 4 ft. 6 in. 
 
 The gift of the sons of James Reid of Auchterarder, 1896. 
 
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
 
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