The first Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) opened in August 1960 in Inverleith House, a Georgian building set in the middle of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden.

In 1984 the SNGMA moved to the former premises of the John Watson's Institution on Belford Road in the west of the city, a large neo-classical building which was originally designed by William Burn in 1825 as a refuge for fatherless children.

[2] Inverleith House became a contemporary art gallery, curated by the Royal Botanic Garden, also featuring exhibitions of works and specimens from its historic collections.

[3] In 1999, the SNGMA's collection had outgrown the Watson's premises, and it expanded into the Dean Orphan Hospital, a neoclassical orphanage situated on the other side of Belford Road which had been erected by Thomas Hamilton in 1833.

The post-war collection features art by Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, Joan Eardley and Alan Davie, with more recent works by artists including Douglas Gordon, Antony Gormley, Robert Priseman and Tracey Emin.

Modern Two is also home to the gallery's world-famous collection of Surrealism, including works by Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Alberto Giacometti.

Modern One and Two are set in extensive parkland, where visitors can discover sculpture by such artists as Ian Hamilton Finlay, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, George Rickey, Rachel Whiteread, Richard Long and Nathan Coley.