When did Glasgow's Burrell Collection open?

It has a rich and varied scope spanning six millennia, ranging from ancient prehistoric artefacts to ground-breaking works by Impressionists such as Manet and Degas. Its strengths lie in late medieval art, Chinese ceramics, bronzes and jades, Islamic pile carpets and French nineteenth-century paintings.

The collection, which reflects Sir William Burrell’s lifelong passion for art and history, was donated to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Constance, Lady Burrell.

The decision to give the collection to Sir William’s home city in 1944 has been described as, “one of the greatest gifts a city has ever received”. With responsibility to care for the Collection and deliver on the terms of the Deed of Gift, Glasgow Life must also ensure it remains accessible to the people of Glasgow and visitors to the city.

Here is the history of the Burrell Collection:

1944 Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell gift their Collection of 9,000 works of art to the City of Glasgow

Sir William Burrell donated his collection to the City of Glasgow in 1944

1967 Pollok Country Park is gifted to the city by the Stirling-Maxwell family, whose ancestral home is Pollok House

1969 Sir William Burrell Trust agree to proposal for a purpose-built home for the Collection to be constructed in Pollok Country Park

1971 International competition launches to design a home for the Collection, to meet the terms of the Deed of Gift set by Sir William Burrell (1861-1958)

Work in progress. The Burrell Collection opened in 1983

1972 Winning architectural team announced: Barry Gasson, John Meunier and Brit Andresen

1978 Construction works begin on site

1983 The Burrell Collection is officially opened on 21 October by Her Majesty The Queen

The Queen opening the Burrell Collection on October 1983

1984 The museum welcomes over 1 million visitors in its first year of opening

1999 Glasgow is UK City of Architecture and Design. The Burrell Collection is widely recognised as having helped bring these and many other accolades to the city, acting as a catalyst for Glasgow’s transformation into a cultural powerhouse

2013 The Burrell Collection becomes a Grade A listed building, acknowledging its significance

A statue of the Virgin Mary with the dead body of Jesus Christ from the Southern Netherlands from 1440, was on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery as part of Burrell at Kelvingrove.

2014 Scottish Parliament approves a bill allowing loans to and from The Burrell Collection to be made around the world

2014 Community consultation process begins involving 15,000 local people in order to make the art works relevant for current and future generations

2015 Selected works of art begin an international tour of France, North America and Japan as well as the UK, seen by more than 1 million people

2016 The Burrell closes to the public for a major refurbishment and redisplay

2016 John McAslan + Partners appointed as architect for the refurbishment and redisplay

2017 Kier Construction Scotland appointed as main contractor

2018 Construction works begin on site

2018 A series of temporary exhibitions begins at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum featuring works by artist Joseph Crawhall (1861-1913) and highlights of the Medieval and Chinese Collections

Decant of the contents of the Burrell collection ahead of it's refurbishment.. The Thinker by Rodin pictured with a label. Photograph by Colin Mearns.

2019 European Commission names Glasgow the ‘UK’s top cultural and creative city’

In spring the pandemic forced work to stop; once it restarted a sequential approach to construction and changing Covid-19 safe working methods led to a revised completion date

2021 Conde Nast names Glasgow the ‘Best UK city break destination’

2022 The Burrell Collection is due to reopen to the public on March 29