HE has created some of Glasgow's most famous landmarks, and his work is known around the world.

A new gallery dedicated to beloved sculptor George Wyllie is getting ready to open this week.

The retired customs-officer-turned-artist is responsible for some of Scotland’s most memorable artworks, including The Paper Boat, which made it on to the front page of the Wall Street Journal in 1987, and the Straw Locomotive, which caused a stir at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988.

Glasgow Times:

Born in Glasgow in 1921, Wyllie trained as an engineer with the Post Office, but did not begin his artistic career until he had retired from the customs and excise industry, in 1980.

With architect Ron McKinven, who specialised in the design of commercial premises such as pubs and restaurants, Wyllie made a huge peacock for Motherwell Services Club and created the interiors of the Birds and Bees pub in Stirling, La Bonne Auberge in Glasgow and many more across Scotland.

His many works include his trademark ‘big question mark’ sculptures along the Firth of Clyde at Langbank, two giant Wally Dugs, which toured the city, and there are Wyllie artworks all over Scotland. In Glasgow, many thousands of people pass by his Running Clock outside Buchanan Street Bus Station, and the giant safety pin on the site of Rottenrow Maternity Hospital.

Glasgow Times:

Wyllie died in 2012 at the age of 90.

The Wyllieum in Greenock is the first new major exhibition space to open in Scotland since 2011 and it will house the world’s largest collection of the artist’s works alongside a rolling display of exhibitions which connect to Wyllie by outlook or ethos.

Alongside a permanent collection display showing items from The Wyllieum’s own collection, The George Wyllie Estate, as well as generous long-term loans from private collections, the artworks will be accompanied by a range of ephemera and archival material building a fuller picture of how Wyllie worked.

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The purpose-built gallery is housed in the new Ocean Terminal, a flagship project on Greenock’s waterfront development designed by renowned Scottish architect Richard Murphy.

Director Will Cooper said, “George Wyllie started making art full time after a career that included stints in the Royal Navy and 30 years as a customs and excise officer in Greenock.

“His decision to become an artist in his retirement is an inspiration for us all.”

Will added: “I am in awe of the dedicated hard work of impassioned supporters who have turned their love for George into The Wyllieum, the first purpose-built gallery in the west of Scotland for more than a decade.

"Our opening programme is hugely exciting - we’ll open the gallery with George Wyllie: Spires, a survey of one of George’s most ambitious protects. Bringing Sara Barker in to co-curate the show will ensure these works are brought into the 21st century. I can’t wait to welcome visitors into our building.”

Chairperson of The Wyllieum board, Michael Dale, said: “I first met George Wyllie in 1984 when I was director of the Edinburgh Fringe and I like to think I was the first person to commission him to do a large-scale outdoor event, for Fringe Sunday in 1984.

"We worked together over the next 25 years on various public installations including the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988.”

Michael added: "As a result, when I was asked to be a trustee, I was very pleased to take on a role to promote the man, his work and to find a way to honour his memory through art in the new gallery.

"It is most important that we work together to create a destination in Inverclyde, his home, to inspire and entertain the many people who like to go and see culture on an accessible level, just as he would have wanted."

The first exhibition, George Wyllie: Spires will run from April 26 to August 11.