Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

I love these galleries, every piece is fascinating and beautiful and sometimes a bit weird. The Andy Warhol expedition was everything I hoped it would be and highly recommend you go see very soon before it's gone. Loved also seeing some Joan Miro art displayed. The replica of the Eduardo studio was fascinating, so much to see and comment on but I can't share it all here. Wonderful gallery, a must see in my opinion.

I've been going back and forth on my rating for the Gallery of Modern Art... here's why:

I live reasonably close to this space... a quick fifteen-minute walk means that I can stroll the grounds on a nice day, plunk down and grab a cup of coffee or wander through to see what's new. Though I'm not sure of their wifi situation, I can see this gallery and its cafes fast becoming a permanent staple in my summer when I need an out of the home office day. The shop, though small, holds some interesting little treasures and their illustration library gives me bookworm goals.

BUT... as a destination gallery, I'm not sure it holds up to its rivals in town. If you're traveling further than my little walk, I could see this gallery being a bit of a disappointment as it's quite small. The grounds are worth the look (especially if you can time it in and around sunset) and the place is well curated... just sparse. I also find it a bit frustrating that you often lose an entire floor to a ticketed exhibition. I understand the need for occasional ticketed events, but it would be nice to have their marketing material reflect that before arriving.

So take this place with a grain of salt. If you have 48 hours in Edinburgh, it wouldn't make it on my "must do" list but if you've got more time to explore or are lucky enough to call the city home, it's worth a mini adventure to see.

Always the perfect location for a bit of culture and art. I've spent my Sunday at the surrealist exhibition in G2.
13 rooms of surrealism was a bit much... There's only so much art even my brain can take in! My favourite part was the Miro and Dali rooms- their art work is out of this world and they are 2 of my favourite painters. It was really interesting to read the history of surrealism and the the collectors of this style of artwork over the years. For only £10 a ticket id say you get a whole lotta art for your money.

Of course their was time for a cheeky wee scone and a cuppa- the best scones btw!
I wish it handy rained so there was time to wander round the gardens, but there's always a next time.

I'm so greatful that we have such a fantastic gallery at our door step

We went there recently to see the latest exhibition called witches and wicked bodies. Sadly this exhibition will come to an end this week.

There were paintings hanging in four rooms, all about the ugliness and sexuality of witches from it's beginnings in the 1500 to its end. If there ever was an end! The contents of the paintings vary. You can see different styles of pencil or brush work. Stories of Faust and Walburgies Nacht came to life. Witches riding their brooms through the darkest of nights. But there were also paintings of beauty like Vivienne, Melancholy and Medusa, only to mention a few.

The galleries of modern art two is housed in an amazing building and surroundings.

Can't wait for the next exhibition to arrive.

Love the cafe in Modern Two. Paolozzi's giant metal Vulcan is very inspiring. Great cup of tea. They do it right. Many gluten free vegan cakes. Soup and sandwich for lunch is always good. They've gluten free breads too. Very nice professional staff. Beautiful!

A gallery housed in two separate buildings (about a 5 minute walk from each other, on opposing sides of the same street) - one of them very much worth visiting (Modern I), the other one - well, not so much.

"Modern I" features the "traditional" modern art, which means: mostly works from the early to mid-20th century. So, not actually very modern at all. Which is a good thing, if you love figurative painting and not-so-abstract abstract painting - or, in short: *real* art. Which is why you should visit this place first. It has much more to offer - both qualitatively and quantitatively - and scores much lower on the pretentiousness scale. There are also temporary exhibitions (a major one on the late works of Roy Lichtenstein when I was visiting in early July). But the permanent exhibition is mighty impressive in itself (see my photos). And you can take photos of ALL pictures and sculptures. Ain't that nice?! Expect to spend around 1.5 hours there.

And then there's "Modern II" across the street. There's always a temp exhibition for which you'll have to pay an amount of money that's not really proportionate to the quality of said temporary exhibit (which is true of *all* major UK galleries, from Tate Britain, Tate Modern to Manchester etc). See, I caught the pretentiousness bug there. I could just have said: It's not worth the money. Sounds harsh, but there it is. Other than that, there's a rather tiny permanent display of some works which could have easily been shown in "Modern I" (say, Picasso, Dali, etc) - just 2 rooms, and a café and a shop. 25-30 minutes max for the permanent display.

The walk from city centre is about 30 minutes (off George or Princes Street), which is just fine when it's not raining. The permanent galleries are always free of charge. Since there are attractive parks and installations on either side, you may also feel tempted to just relax there for a while.

So, 5 stars for Modern I, 3 for Modern II. Makes 4.

Been here before and would say its worth a visit as the grounds are interesting (sculptures, logos - "everything will be alright" and "there will be no miracles here"??, and hit and miss exhibitions). Last time we went the content was able female sexuality, and this time it was about Scottish Women. There are usually some interesting displays inside but we perused the grounds and it was nice to see a bunch of kids on a field trip running up the swirly mound!

I've got to preface my review with the disclaimer that I, like 99% of people on earth, don't know a god damn thing about modern art.

Despite my intellectual handicap, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art makes for a really nice afternoon out. And, like all public museums and galleries in the UK, they are completely free to enter, although entry to some temporary exhibits can sometimes cost money.

It's nestled in a nice, leafy area of Edinburgh that is pleasant to walk to. If you're a visitor to Edinburgh, you can walk there from the western end of Princes street in probably ten or fifteen minutes if you know where you're going, and I definitely recommend doing so if the weather is nice.

The gallery is actually two separate buildings on either side of a road. Building number 1 is the larger and has a cool bit of landscaping in the front garden. Building 2 has a more formal front lawn, but (in my opinion) a more attractive building. They're both lovely to look at, walk around and take pictures of and are great examples of late-Georgian neo-classical architecture, if you're into that sort of thing.

I went to a temporary Escher exhibition in building 1, which was just perfectly curated and presented. A lot of time, thought and skill had gone into arranging the layout of the collection and putting together of the information.

The permanent collection of both buildings is... interesting? It's modern art. There are works from a few big names and some stuff that is quite amusing to look at, even to lay idiots like me. It can be quite fatiguing, though, so I recommend just breezing through and admiring the buildings as much as the contents if you're not that into it.

The Scottish Gallery of Modern Art is a bit more out of the way than the other arty-type places in Edinburgh, which cluster around Princes Street. That said, it's worth the walk.

Made up of two separate buildings which tend to house separate exhibitions (one free, one paid (roughly £6-9) for the most part) the gallery is also surrounded by permanent pieces in the gardens which are quite striking.

The artists on show are usually well known and the exhibitions are quite good. Most recently we went to the Escher exhibit and were suitably in awe!

The gallery also houses a cafe which I've never sat in but it seems worth it to have a coffee next to a humungous sculpture which takes up two floors. Additionally, there's a permanent installation from the life of Eduardo Paolozzi which is very impressive!

A definite good day out.

The Modern Art Galleries is made up of the Dean Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, located in two separate buildings across the road from one another.

The Dean Gallery is smaller and has some interesting pieces. I was rather impressed by the big metal roboty thing which stood two stories tall. I checked the website for this, because there is not a chance I would remember it and I want to be helpful, so the Dean Gallery features Dada and Surrealism. I couldn't tell you what that is, just that I enjoyed this nicely kept, quiet gallery.

The Gallery of Modern Art is, well modern art. So I go in and think, WTF this is a room with some junk in it. Whereas someone else goes in and says "Aha! A masterpiece!" There were many pieces where I thought, HUH? Really? That is art? But then there was some fantastic pieces with so much thought and effort put into them. One of the exhibits is a wall where this guy has added the name of every single person he has ever met to. It's not a painting but I thought it was pretty fun. This gallery is a mix of the odd and the outstandingly good and bad modern art.

Great way to spend an afternoon because it is quite entertaining and always stirs up that debate of "What is art?" Oh and it is free.