The existence of Aberdeen Art Gallery - which celebrates it 125th anniversary this year - is due in no small part to the famous French artist and Slade Professor of Art Alphonse Legros (1837-1911). Legros visited Aberdeen in 1880 and expressed his desire for the city to establish a municipal Art Gallery. His generous gift of his own work and that of his pupils later the same year was one of the first donations to the public art collections.