Dippy the Diplodocus

© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

Dippy, a replica of a diplodocus, has arrived in Kelvingrove. The skeleton of Dippy was dug up in Wyoming, USA in 1899. The original skeleton is in Andrew Carnegie’s Museum in Pittsburgh USA because the excavation was funded by Andrew Carnegie. In his honour, the dinosaur is named I diplodocuscarnegii. Dippy is 70 feet long and has 292 bones.

 King Edward VII visited Carnegie at Skibo Castle and saw a drawing of the reconstructed skeleton. He asked Carnegie if he could make a cast for the British Museum. Carnegie obliged and donated a plaster cast which was unveiled in 1905. It has remained in the Natural History Museum since then. A decision was made to put another exhibit in the central hall of the museum and to send Dippy on a tour of the United Kingdom. Glasgow is its fourth stop. It has to travel with a team of dedicated technicians to ensure that it is properly installed. It will be here until May 2019.

Already there have been crowds of people eager to see him/her on the only visit to Scotland- 50,000 visitors in the first fortnight.

Jack Knox –Concrete Block

Thirty Friends attended the exhibition at GOMA , Jack Knox –Concrete Block on Thursday 10^th January. Jack Knox ( 1936-2015) was one of the most significant and well-respected Scottish painters of the 20^th Century. The exhibition focuses primarily on the years from 1967 to 1978 but there is a collection of slides of paintings covering all his active years.

Courtesy of Frances Dryburgh

More can be read in the article in the Autumn newsletter written by Will Cooper who curated the exhibition. Will has now left to return to London and we wish him well in his new venture.