Phil Miller

Arts Correspondent

The £45m revamp of the Burrell Collection museum in Glasgow will open up a whole new floor, allowing for Sir William Burrell's bequest to the city to be seen in almost its entirety for the first time.

The redevelopment of one of the world's finest single collections of art and objects will allow the public to see more than 8000 of the 9000 items in the famous gift to the city.

New details of the multi-million pound revamp were revealed as the collection's first show outside Glasgow was launched in London.

From Monday, Burrell at Bonhams, in New Bond Street, features the "cream of the cream" of the collection, including a self portrait by Rembrandt, The Madonna and Child by Bellini,  ballet dancers by Degas, The Thinker by Rodin and a bedhead that once belonged to Henry VIII, among other items.

The first exhibition of treasures from the Burrell Collection outside Glasgow comes after legislation was passed by the Scottish Government in January to allow the collection to tour overseas, will open in London.

The show, aimed at raising the profile of the Burrell Collection in the UK capital, runs until December 19.

A collection of Burrell artworks will go on tour to venues around the world for two years, while from 2016-2019, the museum in Pollok Park will close for a radical refurbishment.

It is understood that the key venues for the show of Burrell Collection masterworks will include North America, South Korea and China, as well as possibly Australasia.

Single or small groups of items from the collection, which the wealthy shipbuilder gave to Glasgow in a Deed of Gift in 1944, will also go to European venues.

Meanwhile other items from the Burrell museum will be put on show at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery while the museum is shut for redevelopment.

The roof of the museum, which allows significant water ingress into the building, will be entirely replaced, and its flat sections put on an angle to allow rainwater to run off.

The volume of water allowed in by the roof, despite repair works by Glasgow City Council and the advice of experts, has caused serious damage and in some areas pictures cannot be hung for fear of harm from rainwater.

In the masterplan developed by Glasgow Life, the basement will become an entirely new floor of exhibition space, allowing for more than 90 per cent of Sir William Burrell's bequest, roughly 9000 works of art, to be displayed at once for the first time over three floors.

Currently the A listed building displays around 2000 objects.

The popular museum also requires new glazing, new heating and electrics, and will add better "vertical circulation" between the floors.

A bid has been made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for around £15m to fund the revamp, and in February Glasgow City Council will decide on a funding package for the project.

Duncan Dornan, senior museums manager for Glasgow Life, said that the building, designed by Barry Gasson and Brit Andresen, was cutting edge for its time but has dated and its roof is no longer functioning correctly.

However he said visitors to the revamped Burrell after its re-opening will not notice dramatic changes to the fabric of the building.

"It was such an adventurous building in it time, but a lot of the glazing is old fashioned, the heating system is 30 years old," he said.

"A huge part of the masterplan is opening the whole building up so we can see almost the entire collection."

Other changes will include adaptions to the entrance, better circulation to all levels, and a significant expansion in floor space.

Gordon Matheson, the leader of Glasgow City Council, said: ?Sir William Burrell devoted more than 75 years of his life amassing one of the world?s greatest, single personal collections. 

"We have a duty to protect and promote his great gift for generations to come."

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