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Established | 1871 |
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Location | High Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, PA1 2BA |
Coordinates | 55°50′43″N4°25′49″W / 55.8453°N 4.4303°W |
Website | www |
Paisley Museum and Art Galleries is currently closed for refurbishment and is due to reopen in 2025. It is a museum and public art gallery located in the town of Paisley and is run by Renfrewshire Council. It houses one of the largest municipal art collections in Scotland, including over 800 paintings. [1]
The Museum and Art Galleries were gifted to the town of Paisley by the industrialist Sir Peter Coats in 1871. The building, which also houses Paisley Library and the Coats Observatory, [2] was designed by Glasgow architect John Honeyman of the firm of Honeyman and Keppie. [3] The first curator of the Museum was the entomologist Morris Young who remained in post until his death in 1897 leaving the Museum a bequest of £500 to be invested and the returns used to pay for the upkeep of the entomological collections and all his books. [4] The museum has been extended on several occasions since it opened. [5] There are plans for a revamp of the Museum to transform it into an "international-class destination" based around the Paisley's heritage story. [6]
The art collection concentrates largely on works by late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Scottish artists, such as the Glasgow School and the Scottish Colourists. In addition there is a contemporary collection which includes work by artists such as Steven Campbell and John Byrne, who was born in Paisley. [1]
The museum houses a collection of objects and documents covering the local history of Paisley and Renfrewshire, especially the importance of the textiles industry, [3] tracing the history of the luxury shawl industry which developed in Paisley. The museum has recreated the work and a weaving using a traditional hand loom can be seen on site [2] It also contains an archaeological collection which includes objects from Ancient Egypt and Babylon and an extensive natural history collection, the museum also houses the local biological records centre. [3]
One of the most important items in the Museum's collection is the Arbuthnott Missal which was presented to the Museum by another of the Coats family, Archibald. [7] This missal is the only extant pre Reformation missal (liturgical book) of the Scottish Use and in 2007 it was awarded a prestigious top award in the British Library's Hidden Treasures Brought to Life competition. [8]
The museum is currently closed to the public. [9] and will reopen as Paisley Museum, the council having decided to discontinue having art galleries within it.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Paisley is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Water, a tributary of the River Clyde.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. The building is located in Kelvingrove Park in the West End of the city, adjacent to Argyle Street. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is one of Scotland's most popular museums and free visitor attractions.
The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on 29 March 2022 following a major refurbishment. It was announced as the winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year in July 2023. It is the only non-national museum to be the outright winner twice.
John Patrick Byrne was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, artist and designer. He wrote The Slab Boys Trilogy, plays which explore working-class life in Scotland, and the TV dramas Tutti Frutti and Your Cheatin' Heart. Byrne was also a painter, printmaker and scenic designer.
Crookston is a residential suburb on the southwestern edge of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
Sir James Guthrie was a Scottish painter, associated with the Glasgow Boys. He is best known in his own lifetime for his portraiture, although today more generally regarded as a painter of Scottish Realism.
The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.
Thomas John Honeyman was an art dealer and gallery director, becoming the most acclaimed director of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow.
Neilston is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, two miles southwest of Barrhead, 3+3⁄4 miles south of Paisley, and 5+3⁄4 miles south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Neilston is a dormitory village with a resident population of just over 5,000 people.
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The lieutenancy area covers the three modern council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, and this area is occasionally termed Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the modern council area called Renfrewshire. The historic county additionally included territory on the south-western edge of Glasgow which was gradually transferred to the administrative area of the city as it grew.
The Arbuthnott Missal is the only extant missal of the Scottish Use. It won a prestigious top award in the British Library's Hidden Treasures competition 2007.
Coats Observatory is Scotland's oldest public observatory. It is currently closed for refurbishment as part of a 4-year long £42m transformation of the observatory and museum buildings. Located in Oakshaw Street West, Paisley, Renfrewshire, the observatory has been operational since 1 October 1883 and continues to function to this day, offering visitors the opportunity to view the night sky through the powerful telescopes housed within the building. The observatory is currently closed for redevelopment and is due to reopen in 2023.
Paisley is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Renfrew is a town 6 miles (10 km) west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gained royal burgh status in 1397.
Pat Douthwaite was a Scottish artist. She has been notably compared to Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, the peintres maudits of early twentieth-century Paris.
Robert Sivell (1888–1958) was a Scottish portrait artist active in the first half of the 20th century. He was a founder member of the Glasgow Society of Artists and Sculptors in 1919.
Sir Peter Coats of Auchendrane was a Scottish thread manufacturer and philanthropist. He was co-founder of the firm J & P Coats, which later evolved into Coats Group.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, formally established in 1996 to succeed the Renfrew district within the Strathclyde region, both of which were abolished; the headquarters are at Paisley.