Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

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The main entrance of the museum

The 'back' of the museum on Argyle Street

The 'front' of the museum, in Kelvingrove Park

The 'back' of the museum, taken from the University of Glasgow Tower

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow's premier museum and art gallery and has one of Europe's great civic art collections. The museum is the second most popular visitor attraction in Scotland, and the most visited museum in the United Kingdom outside London. It is located on Argyle Street, in the West End of the city, on the banks of the River Kelvin (opposite the architecturally similar Kelvin Hall, which was built in matching style some years later, after the previous hall had been destroyed by fire). It is adjacent to Kelvingrove Park and is situated immediately beneath the main campus of the University of Glasgow on Gilmorehill.

The construction of Kelvingrove was partly financed by the proceeds of the 1888 International Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park. The gallery was designed by Sir John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen and opened in 1901. It is built in a Spanish Baroque style and follows the Glaswegian tradition of using red sandstone. Although built as a permanent building, it was also designed as a principal building of another International Exhibition in the Park in 1901. This explains why the building appears to be built 'back to front'. Nowadays most visitors enter from the main street, Argyle Street — the "back" of the building.

The museum's 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 houses Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí, interestingly the copyright of this painting was bought by the curator at the time after a meeting with Dalí himself. For a period between 1993 and 2006, the painting was moved to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art.

Kelvingrove reopened on 11 July 2006 after a three-year closure for major refurbishment. The work cost around £28m and includes a new restaurant and a large basement extension to its display space to accommodate the 8000 exhibits now on display.