Sculpture Highlights features a selection of ‘old favourites’ alongside some of the outstanding works of sculpture from our collections.
Most of the sculptures are in the east and west balconies on the first floor.
Also included under Sculpture Highlights are some important large paintings hung on the staircase walls.
You will find sculptures dotted around the building in the circulation areas of the ground and first floors. Sometimes they are in alcoves or under the curves of the arches. Sometimes in prominent positions on balconies or the tops of stairs.
They are mostly British 19th or 20th century sculptures, with a few choice French pieces to complement our picture collection.
Sometimes they are placed close to galleries to which they are related. Sometimes they are there to be appreciated in their own right.
Return to Sender, a deliberately vulgar figure of Elvis Presley by Sean Read, greets visitors coming up the west stairs from the lower ground floor entrance.
Robert Burns, a statuette by Kellock Brown, and William the Silent by Van der Stappen stand guard outside the Scottish and Dutch galleries. While Madame Renoir beckons you into the French gallery.
Glasgow sculptor Benno Schotz’s powerful terra cotta Self Portrait and his tender portrait of his wife are housed in a touching juxtaposition on the east balcony.
The heart-rending Motherless by George Lawson is on the west balcony. It has recently been restored and will be a revelation to visitors who have admired it for so long.