Staying at a capital city like London gives you the chance to have a look at the works of many international artists. But what about the local ones? If you want to see works of British artists the Tate Gallery of British Art (or short: Tate Britain) is your place to be. It contains the largest collection of British art since 1500. Sugar farmer Sir Henry Tate offered his 60 artworks to the British government as the foundation of a new museum at the end of the 19th century. Tate Britain opened in 1897 in a Neoclassicism-style building on the grounds of a former jail in Millbank.
And there it is still today: at the shore of river Thames between Lambeth bridge and Vauxhall bridge. The today even better known Tate Modern can be seen as a spin-off which became necessary because of further donations to the museum (especially the Turner collection focussed on impressionism). Tate Britain owns 3,500 works from famous painters like John Singer Sargent, William Turner or Francis Bacon. Iconic works of the museum are for example Ophelia by John Everett Millais or A Bigger Splash by David Hockney. Visiting Tate Britain is free of charge (except for special exhibitions) and they’ve even got a nice coffee bar with a terrace.
Tate Britain
London
England
United Kingdom
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