Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow's premier museum and art gallery and has one of Europe's great civic art collections. It is located in the west end of the city, next to Kelvingrove Park and the University of Glasgow. The museum is the second most popular visitor attraction in Scotland and the most visited museum in the United Kingdom outside London.

The building of Kelvingrove was partly financed by the proceeds of the 1888 International Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park. Opened in 1902, it was designed by Sir John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen. The building is built in a Spanish Baroque style and follows the Glaswegian tradition of using red sandstone. There is a popular myth that the building was built the wrong way round and the architect committed suicide by jumping from one of the towers. This is not true. The myth probably stems from the fact that the main entrance is from Kelvingrove Park, but most visitors enter from the main street, Argyle Street.

The museums collections came mainly from the McLellan Galleries and from the old Kelvingrove House Museum in Kelvingrove Park. It has one of the finest collections of arms and armour in the world and a vast natural history collection. The art collection includes many outstanding European artworks, including works by the Old Masters, French Impressionists and Scottish Colourists. The museum housed the painting Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali until 1993, when it was moved to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.

As of 2004 Kelvingrove is closed for refurbishment and is due to reopen in 2006. Some of its collection is currently at the McLellan Galleries.