The Burrell is back: go and visit

AFTER five years of closure and a refurbishment project costing £68.25 million, the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, has just re-opened. William Burrell was born in Glasgow in 1861, the third son of a shipowner. At the age of 15, he joined the family firm and, with his brother, made a fortune. From 1915, however, he began to sell up his business interests in order to pursue his driving interest, art collecting. It was a passion he had developed from childhood, when he famously annoyed his father by spending pocket money that was intended for a cricket bat on a painting.

In 1916, with his wife, Constance, Burrell purchased Hutton Castle near Berwickupon-tweed and began to expand it as a home for his collection. He continued to amass pieces voraciously and his notebooks from 1911 show that he spent on average £20,000 a year on art. His interests were eclectic, from Iranian carpets to Chinese ceramics and the art of Classical civilisations. Perhaps his outstanding concern, however, was with the art of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance; his tapestry and stainedglass choices were exceptional. By the time Hutton Castle was completed in 1926, it was already inadequate for Burrell’s posessions. He carried on buying, however, right up to his death in 1958 ,and loaned objects widely.

In 1944, he made over the bulk of his collection to his native city (although he also gave generously elsewhere, including, notably, to Berwick Museum and Art Gallery). To this princely gift he added £450,000 to create a new museum not less than 16 miles from the centre of Glasgow. That project only got under way in the 1970s and the new building in Pollok Country Park by Gasson, Andresen and Meunier finally opened its doors in 1983. The structure proved problematic in environmental terms, with extremes of temperature and severe leaking. Major refurbishment became essential and, in preparation for this, a controversial Act of Parliament changed Burrell’s will in 2014 to allow the collection to travel internationally during its closure.

The present project, overseen by architects John Mcaslan + Partners, has completely renewed the exterior and services of the 1970s museum, yet the work has preserved its light and open character. At the same time, it has increased the gallery space by about one-third and created access to the ground floor. Athena had a wonderful morning reacquainting herself with the riches of the collection. Labels for some objects are difficult to find and she confidently predicts that what the museum calls ‘innovative digital elements, such as video walls, interactives and hybrid systems created to help people engage with the stories behind the Collection’ will quickly lose their shine. But it’s impossible not to be astonished both by what’s on display or Burrell’s acumen as a collector of the most wonderful things. Do visit!

His interests were eclectic, from Iranian carpets to Chinese ceramics and classical civilisations