THE haunting image of a shell-shocked American Marine in southern Vietnam is to be included in a national programme of contemporary art shows across Scotland.

War photographer Don ­McCullin's black-and-white still of the soldier awaiting evacuation during the Tet Offensive in February 1968 is featured in one of the 16 shows across the UK.

McCullin's photograph joins the works of Turner Prize-winning artists Douglas Gordon and Martin Creed from the collection of Anthony d'Offay, parts of which will be displayed in spaces in Shetland, North Uist, Thurso, Kilmarnock, Dumfries, and Edinburgh.

Mr d'Offay sold the works in 2008 to the National Galleries of Scotland (NHS) and the Tate for £26.5m. Selections from it are being shown across the UK in 2014 as part of the Artist Rooms project.

The shows include McCullin at the Bonhoga Gallery and Shetland Museum; Douglas Gordon in Thurso; Vija Celmins in North Uist; Gerhard Richter in Kilmarnock; Dan Flavin in Dumfries; and Louise Bourgeois in Edinburgh.

Other Artist Rooms shows include the work of Martin Creed, who won the Turner Prize in 2001 and grew up outside Glasgow, in the Isle of Wight and Tate Britain.

Next year's programme also feature an online course, involving the University of Edinburgh, Tate, and the NGS, based around the life and work of Andy Warhol.

When Mr d'Offay agreed to sell his collection to the NGS and Tate - below their value on the open market - he said he wanted young people across the UK to see the art of their lifetimes, and for venues that do not often stage contemporary art shows to be able to display works from the 20th century.

By the end of 2014, Artist Rooms will have been shown in 66 museums and galleries across the UK, with 132 displays and exhibitions. The work in the collections have so far been seen by 29 million people.

D'Offay's collection totals more than 700 works by leading contemporary artists, such as Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Mapplethorpe, Gilbert and George, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Andy Warhol.

The shows next year are funded by Arts Council England, the Art Fund, and Creative Scotland.

McCullin worked for more than 20 years in areas of war and poverty including Vietnam, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Beirut.

John Hunter, exhibitions officer at Shetland Museum and Archives, said: "This is a hard-hitting exhibition with no compromises. McCullin's work highlights stark realities of economic collapse; of war and its consequences. To be accepted as one of the venues for an Artist Rooms exhibition is a major coup for Shetland Museum and Archives and reaffirms its ethos of bringing high status international shows to Shetland."

Jane Matthews, exhibitions officer at Shetland Arts, added: "It is rare for work of this calibre, with such social and historical value, to be shown in Shetland, and we expect there will be a lot of interest in, and engagement with, the exhibition."