FEATURE LIST
Richard Demarco. Arts Impressario ‘ llike the red wallpaper. I like the whole idea at art as a sensual experience. I disliked the previous Protestant look. The upstairs galleries are notas nice asthe rest at the building. butthey do allow you to seejust how avant garde some olthe paintings were in their day. lapprove wholeheartedly otthe new design. The whole thing makesthe galleries seem part ol Edinburgh at last. It is now a treasure house. It isa Iaudableavant garde experiment in creating an installation which aspirestothe condition at modern sculpture. I can‘t wait lorthe place to be used tor receptions and dinners. The meaning ot the word gallery isa place lorwalking around in. and that's whatthe National has now become. You now stop connecting with iustone picture. and appreciate the totality otthe collection.
Emilio Coia. Cartoonist and Art Critic. The Scotsman ‘ Some rooms upstairs are good -I didn't objectterribly to the Impressionist room. There‘s no real artistic reason tor revertingto the original design. We‘re not living 100 years ago. lobiect to the decortaking precedence overthe pictures. and I objectto tine pictures being placed above eye level - close scrutiny is vital. particularlylorstudents at art. Anything
spectacularwill draw crowds. and alterthat it‘sthe quality olthe pictures upon which the reputation olthe gallery will depend.
Isabel Vasseur. Arts Co-ordinator. Glasgow Garden Festival ‘ The maroon is quite extraordinary. It bears no relationship to 80s' taste at all. It's very 505 —then they used to do three maroon walls and one grey one. I‘m also lascinated that they have a 503 bedroom carpet on the Iloor. It somehow negates any authenticity. I like the lactthatthe paintings are all out. but I don‘t like the mixing at paintings ol little consequence with majestic pieces. Buton the whole I don‘t havea strident negative view. Ithinkthe Dutch room is beautilul because the
whole thing looks more like lurniture.”
ProtessorSir Robert Grieve
“ agreeany
impressed by whatl saw. What's the pointot going back to a past age? They should be thinking carelully about the gallery'stuture. I like to look atsome pictures at eye level to understand the beauty and cratt at them —you can't do that. lhaveto say that I‘m veryledup. The gallery will notgive
methe sameleelingol relreshment that I used to get. It used toleel Iikeyouwere movingin a ditlerent world. It's notlikethatnow. I
Cordelia Oliver. Art Critic ‘ The red is ridiculously strong. It‘sthe only thing a total peoplewill remember. It makesthe pictures look like reproductions. It’s an interiordecorator‘sjob. We are not inthe 1830‘s—we look at pictures in a dillerent way now. You can't hang such absolute masters so high that you can‘t seethem. Every one inthis gallery is a masterpiece — it's not acres ol duds. And art students can‘tsee them properly. The gallery is nottorpeople who really want to see the art or care about painting.
Barbara and Murray Grigor. Scottish Independent Filmmakers ‘ Barbara- It‘s very exhilarating the waythe pictures speak to each other. Murray— People hate people doing anything in Scotland. It's curious the waythe lorcesol conservation are so strong—anyone moving into another world gets trampled on. lthink anythingthat rises above mediocrity is wondertul. Timothy Clittord has used the art at gallerymanship. It‘s now an art in itsell. which is a rarething. The gallery now has a story to tell. there‘sa
buzz going about. _
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