Edinburgh

The Fruitmarket Gallery

A free gallery of contemporary art on Market Street, in an old fruit and vegetable market of 1938 and the warehouse beside it.

Welcome

Down on Market Street, in the shadow of the Old Town and a few steps from the Waverley Station exit, pink banners printed with the Fruitmarket's angular logo hang from a stone front.

It is an easy place to drop into between trains, and nothing to pay.

Inside, the galleries are white, calm and full of light. Skylights run the length of the upper floor, a mezzanine walkway lined with wooden benches looks down on the rooms below, and paintings hang well apart on the walls. The exhibitions change through the year, from big names to artists at the start of their careers, and it makes a good place to linger on a wet afternoon. Then climb Cockburn Street up to the Royal Mile.

Before you go

Entry is free.

The Fruitmarket shows exhibitions of Scottish and international contemporary art, with talks, performances and events.

Where: 45 Market Street, beside Waverley Station.

Opening hours

Monday: 11am–6pm
Tuesday: 11am–6pm
Wednesday: 11am–6pm
Thursday: 11am–6pm
Friday: 11am–6pm
Saturday: 11am–6pm
Sunday: 11am–6pm

Did you know

Fruit and vegetables, then art.

The gallery grew out of a fruit and vegetable market built in 1938. It was turned into a gallery in the 1970s and opened in 1974, at first on the ground floor only.

Colourful abstract paintings hang on white walls beneath a skylight in a gallery with a mezzanine level and wooden benches.

Did you know

Hockney in the 1970s.

In its first years it gave solo shows to David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eduardo Paolozzi and Frank Stella.

A white plinth stands in the centre of a gallery room hung with small paintings, a wooden bench nearby.

Did you know

The first woman, in 1979.

Its first solo exhibition by a woman artist came in 1979: the video installations of Tamara Krikorian.

A row of framed artworks lines a white gallery wall beneath skylights, wooden benches set along a raised walkway.

Did you know

Printmakers upstairs.

From 1975 Edinburgh Printmakers had its workshop on Market Street above the gallery, before moving to Union Street in 1984.

Framed paintings line a gallery wall beside a long white plinth and wooden bench beneath skylights.

Did you know

Two markets now.

Since 2021 the gallery has taken in the older market building of 1889 next door, a rougher, more industrial warehouse beside the bright original rooms.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Edinburgh

Always bang on trend, Fruitmarket is a well reputed cultural venue in the heart of town, with exhibitions and events focused on contemporary art and culture. There’s a bookshop and café alongside the exhibition spaces.

What is on