Burrell Collection, 2013, Glasgow

We were impressed by the Burrell Collection in 2009. It was the first of several large one-person collections we have visited in Europe, and we were sure to return in 2013.

Entrance to the Burrell...purpose-built, just to house and
display the Collection; but, as we'll see shortly, the building
has some problems...

One of the emblems of the place, the nearly
life-size Ming Dynasty figure of Luohan

Look familiar, Rebecca? Denby's just down the road a bit,
Darbyshire, near Chatsworth

Rembrandt self-portrait #1,729

15th century Burgundian tapestry, a rabbit hunt; "you
wousy wabbit"

13th century German, Abraham, Isaac, etc.

Never miss a Cranach

One of the things we like about the Burrell and other such
"small" museums is the great variety of objects...here,
the "Warwick Vase," long held at Warwick Castle, originally
2nd century Roman, found at Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa; seats 8

The thing that most impressed us this visit
was this 20 foot long silk/silver embroidered
petticoat, 400 years old, a miracle of
preservation; a gift of Charles I to one of his
courtiers; thought to have been originally a
gift of James I to his wife, Anne of Denmark

Detail

Another

Thus

We also did the Impressionism exhibit

The sad thing about the Burrell now is that
there is widespread rain leakage from the roof
and potential damage to the collection

Word is the museum will be closed for two years for repairs

Sweet Pea

Sweet P is our grand-daughter, Penelope, so it was sort of special to walk into the garden adjoining The House for an Art Lover and see the Scottish National Sweet Pea Trials underway...they are gorgeous, delicate little flowers, like our Sweet P...

House For An Art Lover, 2

I was somewhat less into Art Appreciation here than was Vicki, and somehow the camera's eye wandered...

The House for an Art Lover is in a city park and just behind the House is a set of
artificial ski slopes, something new to me

Gents' Room for an Art Lover

Cafe/Restaurant for an Art Lover

Gift Shoppe for an Art Lover...OK, I'll spare you the others

Here I am in the Concentration Booth for an
Art Lover, being punished--made to listen to
the audio-guide--for inattention and disrespect

Here we are in the Museum, etc., looking at a photograph of Mackintosh and his
group (groupies?), modestly calling themselves the "Immortals"; the Scots are truly
wild and crazy persons

What is the French word for seven? Oh yes, "Menage a Sept"; the one looking away
is his eventual wife, Margaret McDonald, also his muse, collaborator, and, in his
words (paraphrasing), the one with the ideas

House For An Art Lover, 1

Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Remember that name. It definitely will be on the quiz after our Glasgow posts.

Students of this blog know we are fans of Art Nuvo and Art Deco. Mackintosh is definitely in that realm, especially if you factor in Scottish severity, a little Bauhaus, a little neo-Nippon. There are elements of all in his work, although he preceded all but Art Nouveau. He is revered in Glasgow about the same as Gaudi in Barcelona.

The first of his works we visited was the "House for an Art Lover." It was built only recently. Mackintosh had submitted plans for it to a German architectural periodical in the early 20th century, and publication of the plans attracted widespread attention. But the house was never built. Only in recent years did Glasgow city fathers and architectural historians decide to build the house, in part a Mackintosh museum and shrine, in part a conference/meeting center. (Also available for weddings, wakes, bar mitzvahs, Christmas parties, etc.) Basically what you have here, apart from the external shots, are an entry hall, a dining room, a music room, and a withdrawing room/game room (perhaps). They are all reasonably obvious, so I'll spare the narration.

Glennifer Braes Country Park

On our previous visit to Glasgow we found a wonderful "campsite" right in town, in the Burrell Collection's carpark in Pollok Park. Quiet. Secluded. Convenient. Bus service within a few hundred feet. Almost free. We arrived in the afternoon, deposited a coin in the pay-and-display, leveled the camper, and settled down for an enjoyable evening prior to touring some new sites in Glaswegia. We were beginning to think about dinner when the Park Ranger drove up, surmised what we were up to, and informed us, very politely, that, despite the absence of signage, over-night parking was not allowed. The police would be around to visit after dark, he said. Fortunately, Vicki had identified a back-up location, in the suburb of Paisley, west of Glasgow, high on a ridge overlooking the Clyde Valley. We liked the Glennifer Braes Country Park well enough that we spent three nights there. We drove to the Burrell and House for an Art Lover and used the Silverburn Shopping Center P&R for getting to the downtown. Oh yes, our stay in Glasgow was notable for another reason: we got the Grey Wanderer washed and waxed; for L7! It is now the White Wanderer.

Thus

Nice views

Hiking trails

Good signage

Wildlife

Nice views, too

Ditto

On To Scotland

After the castle, we drove a few miles out of Carlisle to a lay by we had identified as a possible night halt--and found ourselves just outside Gretna, Scotland. The next day, we drove on toward Glasgow, with two unsuccessful detours, one the World Heritage Site at New Lanark, the other a wall of neolithic inscriptions near Kilmarnock. We could find no adequate parking at New Lanark and so took a few pix and drove on. I found quite a few cliffs and walls on the River Ayr, right where the GPS said, but no cup nor ring marks. We drove on again. The third strike was called in Glasgow, but I'll cover that in the next post.

A few scenes from the early 19th century mill town/social
experiment of New Lanark

The brain-child of industrialist/socialist Robert Owen
(also of New Harmony, Indiana, fame)

You can check Owen and New Lanark out at the website:
http://www.newlanark.org/index2.shtml; tell them they need
to provide a coach park with parking for RVs

The only plausible wall I found for the neolithic inscriptions
was this; no cups, no rings, but signs of later habitation...

But I did have a nice hike along the River Ayr; even picked a
few wild raspberries