Edward Arthur Walton, The Herd Boy, 1886. © National Gallery of Scotland

Exhibition preview - Kaleidoscope, works on paper recently acquired for Scotland, at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh until September 21 2008.

A free exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland features more than 70 works on paper recently acquired for the nation, including drawings, prints and photographs, spanning the Renaissance to the present day.

Drawn from the permanent collections of the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the Scottish National Photography Collection and the Gallery of Modern Art, Kaleidoscope features some impressive acquisitions whilst illustrating the diversity of ways in which major works enter the national collections.

Among the highlights are a vibrant sketch of the Holy Family by the eighteenth-century Venetian painter Tiepolo and an important early watercolour by nineteenth-century Scottish artist E A Walton.

John Byrne, Tilda Swinton, b. 1960 2001. © Care of the Bridgeman Art Library / John Byrne

Twentieth century acquisitions include a pastel portrait of the actress Tilda Swinton by her husband John Byrne, spectacular aerial photographs taken by Alfred Buckham in the 1920s, a striking self-portrait by the celebrated American photographer Lee Miller and Picasso’s harrowing etching, Weeping Woman.

“It showcases the very best of the works on paper acquired across the Galleries over the past few years, and acknowledges the generosity of our many donors and supporters,” said Aidan Weston-Lewis, co-curator of the exhibition.

The show also marks something of a departure for the NGS, in that works from different periods and in different media are displayed together in a loosely thematic hang.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Holy Family with Angels with Two Attendant Angels, about 1740-60. © National Gallery of Scotland

It’s an approach that allows visitors to take in works by Scottish Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon and celebrated British land artist Richard Long – together with the earliest piece on show dating from about 1550. The drawing is believed by gallery curators to be a previously unrecognised piece by the great Venetian painter Titian, by whom very few drawings are known.

Many of the acquisitions come from direct purchases – often with generous support from funding bodies, notably The Art Fund, whilst others come through public-spirited gifts and bequests and works accepted by the government in lieu of tax (AIL).