Art lovers break million barrier Art lovers break million barrier JIM McLEAN THE one million visitors barrier has been shattered for the first time by the National Galleries of Scotland. As art lovers poured through the doors of the galleries in record-breaking numbers last year, the NGS website also clocked up five million hits.
Official figures reveal that the millennium year was the best ever for art lovers in the capital.
With soaring attendance figures, fund-raising projects have also been successful. The Playfair scheme to connect the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery on the Mound by tunnel has now raised 2.3m. This figure looks set for a substantial boost after a celebrity fund-raising dinner in New York next Monday night. The masterpiece was unveiled after restoration at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum last June and the painting remained on display in Glasgow until returning to the National Gallery of Scotland in August. Dr Timothy Clifford, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said the millennium year just got better and better.