Latest News
Dundee Women Celebrated in International Exhibition in Germany
Two pioneering women from Dundee are being showcased on an international stage as part of an exhibition in Würzburg, Germany, exploring courage, leadership and social change across generations.
Courage Can Be Contagious – Notable Women in Würzburg and Its Sister Cities brings together stories of remarkable women from across European twinning cities, highlighting how their impact continues to resonate across borders and over time. The exhibition has been developed in Würzburg in collaboration with partner cities, including Dundee.
Dundee is represented through the stories of Emma Caird and Agnes Husband, who are part of the city’s Small Steps – Dundee Women’s Trail project. Their inclusion builds on four years of work between The McManus, Schools Library Service and Dundee Women's…
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The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum honours a pioneering woman artist with a stunning new acquisition
On the exterior wall of The McManus is a small blue plaque proclaiming the name Katherine Read, Artist, 1723-1778. Hiding in plain sight - how many visitors know of the existence of this amazing Dundee-born artist? Thanks to the pioneering work of the Dundee Woman's trail, this trailblazing Dundee artist was rediscovered and The McManus has now acquired one of Read's finest paintings to celebrate her remarkable career.
It is believed that Katherine Read was the first Scottish woman to receive training as an artist. As a woman, she could not undertake the professional training a male artist would expect and she was never able to study life drawing. Despite this significant drawback, she became a successful professional artist equal to any of her male peers. A contemporary of…
The McManus marks Nelson Mandela Day
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum invited Chris Law MP, ahead of Nelson Mandela Day on Sunday 18 July, to view items on loan from his collection that they have been put on display in their Making of Modern Dundee Gallery. Included in the display are signed first editions of 'In His Own Words' and 'The Long Walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela as well as ephemera and interesting items relating to the campaign to free Mandela that have been collected over the past 20 years.
Nelson Mandela, the former-President of South Africa, spent 27 years in prison on Robben Island under South African Apartheid, from 1962 until his eventual release at the end of Apartheid in 1989. The Anti-Apartheid Scottish Committee formed in Dundee in 1976, and was active under that…
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum to reopen 7 days a week
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum will be returning to 7 day opening from Monday 28 June, 2021. The galleries have been open 5 days a week since April and are now ready, once again, to provide their famous warm welcome every day.
Visitors and Dundonians alike will be able to experience Dundee's museum collection in eight beautiful open gallery spaces. The galleries act as the City's civic memory, housing fascinating individual items of art, which provide an engaging insight into the history of Dundee.
Also on show are two major exhibitions, 'A Love Letter to Dundee: Joseph McKenzie Photographs 1964-1987' and 'Time and Tide: The Transformation of The Tay' which both focus on change in the city.
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New photography exhibition shares snapshots of life in Tayside
New photography exhibition shares snapshots of life in Tayside as partnership between The McManus and Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust frames art as essential healthcare.
Lockdown project sees participants with long term health conditions guided by photographer and artist David P Scott to develop their own photographic style.Art Fund supported project worked with ten budding photographers documenting their lives in lockdown and taking inspiration from A Love Letter to Dundee: Joseph McKenzie Photographs 1964-1987 exhibition currently running at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum.
Loving Photography exhibition goes online and runs from 8th April to 29th May 2021.
This Thursday 8th April sees the launch of a new exhibition highlighting the…
The McManus ‘Reconnects’ to combat Covid-19 social isolation
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum has embarked on an ambitious six-month remote learning and engagement project to help combat isolation heightened by the current COVID-19 pandemic. 'Reconnect' will enable the museum to continue to provide valuable cultural engagements, resources and experiences for community groups with long term health conditions and families groups. This will enhance positive cultural participation and ensure that isolated and shielding participants can still benefit from the rich experiences the museum has to offer.
An integrated team of museum educators, curators, cultural partners and freelance artists has been brought together to support those most in need. Participant groups involved are from Alzheimer Scotland, Home-Start Dundee and…
Inside and Outside
As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, art historian and curator Alice Strang reflects on the past few months in paintings in our modern Scottish art collection.
Alberto Morrocco (1917-98), The Striped Curtain, 1968 © The Artist’s Estate
Living under lockdown has meant that most of us have spent more time than usual at home. The Striped Curtain of 1968 by Alberto Morrocco (1917-98) celebrates our everyday surroundings in a lively kitchen interior. Morrocco was born in Aberdeen to Italian parents. He studied at Gray’s School of Art in the city, under James Cowie (1886-1956) and Robert Sivell (1888-1958). In 1941 he married Vera Mercer and following his appointment to the staff of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 1950, they moved to Dundee. Morrocco was…
The McManus Wins Best Visitor Attraction Award at National Final
Last night, The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum struck gold at the 2019/20 Scottish Thistle Awards National Final at Edinburgh International Conference Centre where they won Best Visitor Attraction.
The Scottish Thistle Awards, now in their 27th year, help shine the spotlight on individuals and businesses going above and beyond to create a destination and visitor experience worth talking about amongst our valuable tourism industry. They champion the very best of the Scottish tourism industry, celebrating innovation, success and excellence in the sector.
2019 saw almost 600 entries submitted, including more than 1,000 nominations from members of the public keen to give hotels, restaurants, B&Bs, visitor attractions and individuals the opportunity to…
Polar Ice Exhibition closing
Image credit: James Morrison painting at his easel in the Arctic © The Artist
Don’t miss your chance to see our 5 star ‘Among the Polar Ice’: exhibition closing 8 March, 2020.
Featured as one of the Scotsman’s art critics’ favourite shows of the year, Among the Polar Ice will soon end its run at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum.
Spanning 200 years, the exhibition brings together paintings, photographs and diaries by artists who have experienced life in the most fragile of landscapes.
Central to the display are a remarkable group of paintings by two of Scotland’s finest contemporary artists, James Morrison and Frances Walker. Morrison’s Arctic paintings capture the glacial landscape of Otto Fiord, Ellesmere Island, which lies within the…
Extraordinary wartime heroics revealed
Eighty years after the start of the Second World war, an extraordinary story of wartime heroics has been revealed with the donation of four Military Crosses from the same family to The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum.
Brothers from the Rae family survived some of the fiercest fighting of the Second World War and returned to their hometown of Dundee with remarkable battlefield achievements and recognition for gallantry in the field. Indeed one brother, even received an additional bar on his military cross for his courageous actions.
Stanley, Ian, Douglas and Bruce Rae were the sons of Stephen and Agnes Rae of Encliffe, Albany Road, West Ferry. Their father was a partner in McIntyre & Rae, a well-known accountancy firm which he had founded in 1910 in…
Among the Polar Ice
Exhibition: Among the Polar Ice
The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum
Albert Square, Meadowside
Dundee, DD1 1DA
Saturday 7 September, 2019 to Sunday 8 March, 2020
The most fragile landscapes on earth are the subject of a new exhibition at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum. Among the Polar Ice brings together contemporary and historic works by artists who have experienced life on the ice.
Selected from Dundee’s nationally significant fine art and whaling collection, the exhibition showcases a small but growing collection of polar artworks which spans 200 years. At its heart are two major series of artworks by leading Scottish artists - Frances Walker and James Morrison.
The Antarctic Suite is the result of Walker’s voyage to the South Pole…
