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Tate Britain

Tate Britain review

Tate Modern gets all the attention, but the original Tate Gallery, founded by sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate, has a broader and more inclusive brief. Housed in a stately Portland stone building on the riverside, Tate Britain is second only to the National Gallery when it comes to British art. The historical collection includes work by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Constable (who gets three rooms to himself) and Turner (whose works are displayed in the grand Clore Gallery). Many contemporary works were shifted to Tate Modern when it opened in 2000, but Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud, David Hockney and Francis Bacon are well represented here, and the Art Now installations showcase up-and-coming British artists. The gallery also hosts the controversy-courting Turner Prize exhibition (Oct-Jan). The gallery has a good restaurant and a well-stocked gift shop, and the handy Tate-to-Tate boat service zips along the Thames to Tate Modern.

Events at Tate Britain

    • Turner/Rothko

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Jul 26
    • Although you shouldn't really need prompting to visit the Turners at Tate Britain, the hanging of Mark Rothko's 1958 ...
    • FREE
    • William Blake

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Oct 4
    • Display from the artist's first, and only, one-person exhibition in his lifetime, re-presented 200 years after its...
    • Critics' Choice
    • FREE
    • Tony Swain

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Jul 26
    • New paintings by the Glasgow-based artist, in the Art Now space.
    • FREE
    • Richard Long

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Sep 6
    • Long's art functions in the same way as one of his walks: the joy is to be found on the journey, not in arriving at...
    • Critics' Choice
    • Classified

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Aug 23
    • Recent major acquisitions of British contemporary art, including Jake and Dinos Chapman's 'Family Collection', two...
    • Critics' Choice
    • FREE
    • Eva Rothschild

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Until Sun Nov 29
    • A single work for the Duveen Galleries by the London-based artist known for her geometric constructions in a range of...
    • FREE
    • Turner Prize 2009

    • Art : Art Museums & Institutions

    • Oct 7-Jan 16 2010
    • The four contemporary artists competing for this year's £25,000 Turner Prize are Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy...
    • Extraordinary Voices

    • Around Town : Performance

    • Fri Dec 4
    • One of a series of events celebrating the tenth anniversary of Home Live Art, an organisation producing artistic work...
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Details

  • Address:
    Tate Britain
    Millbank, London,
    SW1P 4RG
    Phone:
    020 7887 8008
    Travel:
    Pimlico

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