Burrell celebrates 25th birthday

Sir William Burrell spent an average of £20,000 a year on art works

One of the world's best known artistic collections is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The Burrell Collection, housed in Glasgow's Pollok Park, was officially opened by the Queen in October 1983.

Since then, more than 10 million people have been to see its 9,000 works of art.

The collection was gifted to the city by Sir William Burrell in 1944, and is regarded as being one of the greatest created by a single person.

Sir William had been an art collector since his teens, and his hoard was made up of a vast array of works of all periods and from all over the world.

Born in Glasgow in 1861, he joined his family's successful shipping firm at the age of 15, eventually running it alongside his brother.

It took more than 20 years to find a suitable home for the collection

By 1915 the Burrell and Son company owned thirty ships, but Burrell - who had disappointed his father as a child by using his pocket money to buy a picture instead of a cricket bat - had already decided to devote the remainder of his life to collecting art.

He sold off most of his fleet and bought Hutton Castle, near Berwick upon Tweed, which was quickly filled with pieces from every corner of the globe, many of which were built into the fabric of the rooms.

He lived a relatively frugal life inside the castle walls alongside his wife Constance, buying art to save it for posterity rather than for himself.

But he also had a deep knowledge and appreciation of the works he purchased, having read widely about them.

When the castle was finally filled to bursting point, Sir William loaned parts of his collection to galleries, museums and cathedrals across the UK, including the Glasgow Art Gallery and the Tate Gallery in London.

He meticulously recorded each acquisition he made in 28 notebooks, which he kept from 1911 until shortly before his death in 1958.

Winning design

The notes showed how Sir William's art purchasing averaged £20,000 a year for a period of half a century.

His spending only increased after he handed the collection over to the city of Glasgow in 1944, along with £450,000 in cash to build a suitable home for it.

However, the money came with strict instructions on where the new museum could be built - in an area of the Scottish countryside not less than 16 miles from the centre of the city and within four miles of Killearn.

The condition proved impossible to honour, and the Burrell Collection remained largely in storage until the Pollok Estate was also gifted to the city in 1966.

The location clause was relaxed by the trustees of Sir William's estate, and a competition was held to choose a winning design for the museum.

The collection was opened to the public by the Queen in 1983

Eventually, the distinctive L-shaped building designed by Barry Gasson, John Meunier, and Brit Andreson opened its doors to the public in 1983.

The diverse collection contains works of art of ancient civilizations including Sumer, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, alongside Oriental pottery, Iranian carpets, medieval and post-medieval European tapestries, stained glass, carvings and glassware.

There are also more than 700 paintings, drawings, and engravings, mainly by European artists of the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

As part of the 25th anniversary celebrations, two exhibitions highlighting the extent and the breadth of the collection are on display alongside the continuing Colours of the Silk Road: Suzani Embroideries from Uzbekistan - a rare opportunity to see all 11 suzanis collected by Sir William.

Bailie Liz Cameron, chairwoman of Culture and Sport Glasgow, said: "The Burrell Collection is a cornerstone of Glasgow's cultural life.

"Even regular visitors are unlikely to have seen every part of the collection left to the city by Sir William Burrell.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have this collection in Glasgow and we will be appreciating its breadth and splendour for many years to come."