Rachel Oatway considers her favourite paintings and exhibitions housed in Kelvingrove.

Dalí’s Christ of St John of the Cross

Salvador Dalí’s Christ of St John of the Cross (1951) necessitates a room of its own. After stumbling into the vacant room in search of solitude, I was confronted by the towering masterwork and instantly struck with vertigo by its disorienting composition. The display is a spectacle: nestled in darkness, the work reveals itself under lights carefully placed to mimic the painting’s own. The palpable venerance is appropriate considering the painting’s status as the most important artwork in Glasgow’s civic collection. Now returned to Kelvingrove after a visit to Dalí’s hometown, Figueres, there is no better time to visit this masterpiece.

Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style

In my grandparents’ kitchen, the centrifugal force of my early family life, the upper cabinets were adorned with roses. Long after their passing I moved to Glasgow, where those roses lined my walk to university. Mackintosh etched his legacy into Glasgow’s skyline, designing iconic buildings including the Glasgow School of Art, the Willow Tearooms, and House for an Art Lover. The Kelvingrove Museum boasts an extensive body of works from the creators of the Glasgow style, known as ‘The Four’: Mackintosh, Herbert MacNair, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, and Frances MacDonald. This collection is essential viewing for students eager to discover Glasgow’s artistic history.

Rembrandt’s A Man in Armour

A Man in Armour is a stand-out piece in Kelvingrove’s collection and a remarkably empathetic depiction of the human condition. The young man weighed down by armour instils the viewer with trepidation, his expression of consideration and palpable anxiety suggesting an uncertain fate in battle. The painting’s subject is unknown, commonly theorised to depict Alexander the Great, the god Mars, Apollo, or even the artist himself. Look out for the added strips of canvas along the painting’s perimeter, thought to have been added to match the dimensions of a painting of Aristotle at the demand of Alexander Don Ruffio.

The French Art Collection

A considerable silence hangs in the French Art room. The vast space is absent of architectural distractions, commanding attention to the French greats who line its walls. Key works include Renoir’s The Painter’s Garden and Still Life, c.1908, testaments to his artistry and perseverance against arthritis, and Van Gogh’s Blute-Fin Windmill and Alexander Reid which display his mastery of colour and texture. Other works include those of Cézanne, Courbet, Seurat, and Vuillard, making for a truly spectacular collection. Monet’s Vétheuil and View of Ventimiglia returned from Japan just last month, necessitating a visit.

A Big Cat with a Bit of Writing Underneath by John Knowles

Composed by John Knowles around 1991, Big Cat engages with feminist history and depicts the predatory nature of the Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act (1913) which allowed for the release of prisoners weakened by hunger strikes, only to recall them after recovery. I visit this painting regularly, like an old friend. When my grandparents passed, my tether to the world of art and culture died with them. I found it in snatches, pockets whose threads unravelled each time I reached for them – until I met Big Cat. Its tongue-in-cheek title and charming eccentricity are unlike anything else in the gallery. 

Published 27 November 2024