Created in partnership between Glasgow Life Museums and Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson, the new audio tour invites visitors to explore Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum through the eyes of The Big Yin himself.
You can enjoy this tour anytime on the Bloomberg Connects app but for the best experience, listen in Kelvingrove as Sir Billy accompanies you, walking the galleries, remembering times spent there as a young boy, wondering at the armour and sliding on the tiles in his socks.
Find out his highlights, what is most memorable to him, and why.
Speaking about the new experience, Billy Connolly said: “I've known Kelvingrove since I was a wee boy. Let me tell you about my memories of the place.”
Explore Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum with Billy Connolly and check out the parts of the building which still mean something to him.
5. Sir Roger and Sheila
"I would wander around. I had favourite things like the elephant. It was great; it was great to see an elephant that is real size. You would never be that close to an elephant in the world, except at the art galleries. Sheila, the tiger, was on a plinth at the bottom of the stairs. She escaped during her stay at Calderpark Zoo, and people were all worried and thought they were gonna die, and somebody shot her. And her body is in the Kelvingrove. I saw Sheila, I saw her growling in the air, and I loved it. And I told people that I was there when she escaped. But of course, I wasn't. It was just a lovely thing." | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
6. Scottish Colourists
"When the Glasgow Colourists went to France, and there was - I think it was around First World War time - and they went to study the art, and they were flabbergasted that people were painting onions and carrots, and bits of turnip. That just shocked them. But the French saw beauty in it, and they did as well and they started to paint like that. And when they came back, they got famous for the classy artwork. It's lovely." | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
7. Winding Up the Planets
"I loved it. I remember that it was on the first floor. It was a mechanical map of the solar system, which wound up, you could wind up and then it went.. grrzzz … and it went round with the planet spinning. It was brilliant. It explained the solar system much better than trying to explain the way it actually is to children. I saw it when it was running.I had a shot of winding it up. That's what happens when you're rich and famous." | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
8. Dalí Introduced Billy to Art
"Christ of St John of the Cross. It's colossal. I love it. That was the highlight of my art galleries' life. Most people in Glasgow think it's the best painting in the world. And they're probably right. I go to behind his left shoulder, looking down - I always go to the same place. I would be standing apart from it, but my eyes would be on his shoulder. I love the fact that it's indescribable. Most people have an idea of that painting, and it's different from the next guy that comes up. It's alive. It's superb. Nobody knows what makes great art, what makes it popular. It gets you where you live. It's immense. It's very moving, and I loved it where it was. If you go up the stairs, you go up and turn the corner, and there's a little room which holds it and nothing else. And that's where I saw it, when it blew me away. It's my childhood, and it's my introduction to art, which enriches my life beyond anything else. It's bigger than music." Photo: ROBERT PERRY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstoc