The fine art collections of the University of St Andrews contain over 100 portraits, over 300 other oils, watercolours, prints and drawings, and around 40 sculptures and busts. The portrait collection was established in 1765 and has grown steadily to encompass images of University Chancellors, Principals, Professors, Rectors, alumni and benefactors, many of whom are recognised figures in the social, cultural, intellectual, scientific or political development of Scotland. Artists represented include Henry Raeburn, David Martin, David Wilkie, John Watson Gordon, Thomas Duncan, Robert Herdman, George Reid, John H. Lorimer, James Guthrie, George Fiddes Watt, Beatrice Huntingdon, Alberto Morrocco and Stephen Campbell. As such, the collection reflects the history and development of Scottish portraiture. The University holds the Pilgrim Trust Recording Scotland Collection, established to produce employment for artists during the Second World War, and create a permanent pictorial record of a Scotland thought to be at risk from bombs and growing industrialisation. Nineteenth-century works include narrative paintings by William Quiller Orchardson and W. E. Lockhart. The University has strong collections of twentieth-century and contemporary art, some acquired through the Harry and Margery Boswell Art Collection Fund. The fine art collection is part of the Heritage Collections of the University of St Andrews, a Recognised Collection of National Significance.

Artworks are regularly rotated on display at the Museum of the University of St Andrews (MUSA), and feature in the wide-ranging programme of temporary exhibitions in the Gateway Galleries. Works in storage can be seen by appointment at the MUSA Collections Centre. Other artworks are displayed in various spaces throughout the University – some of these areas are open to the public on advertised days such as Doors Open Day. See our website for details of venues, opening times, exhibitions and events.