Description: Housing the greatest collection of British art which spans a five-hundred year period from 1500 to the present day, Tate Britain is deserving of a visit by any serious student or lover of British art. The displays are arranged chronologically and are changed annually, as the collection is too large to be shown in its entirety at any one time. One of the earliest painters whose work is on display is Nicholas Hilliard, born circa 1547.
The eighteenth century is well represented: Hogarth was innovative in the early part of that century and made an important contribution to establishing an English school of painting. Those who love traditional portraits of that era will delight in the work of Gainsborough and Reynolds.
The Romantic period of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is given particular attention at Tate Britain, with Constable and Blake each having a room for their work alone; Constable's main body of work depicts the 'rural scenery of England' (the artist's own phrase), and here you can see the renowned 'Flatford Mill'. Turner's three hundred canvases and thousands of watercolours and sketches led to the building of the Clore Gallery at Tate in order to do them justice. One of the greatest of Turner's masterpieces on show is the breathtaking 'Norham Castle, Sunrise', of 1845.
The nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelites – Rossetti, Millais, Burne-Jones, Holman Hunt and Madox Brown – who aimed at 'truth to nature', have a room devoted to their work. They reacted against what they saw as the 'frivolity' of many of their contemporaries, and their religious and romantic paintings are noted for their luminosity. Millais' 'Ophelia' (from Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet'), drowning in the river, is one of Tate Britain's greatest attractions.
The gallery's collection does of course include sculpture as well as painting. Moving into the twentieth century, you can see work by Henry Moore such as the 'Recumbent Figure', a female nude that seems almost to resemble a landscape, or Barbara Hepworth's 'Discs in Echelon' and 'Figure of a Woman'.
Painters of the twentieth century are represented by Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Stanley Spencer and David Hockney to name but a few. In a slightly more contemporary vein, there are displays of the work of the Young British Artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas, famous for their in-your-face art that reflects pop culture.
The gallery holds temporary exhibitions for which there is an entrance fee – admission to the permanent displays is free. Special exhibitions range from traditional art, such as the work of Hogarth, to contemporary shows, including the annual Turner Prize exhibition.
Tate Britain organizes many educational events and lectures, details of which are given on their website. Guided tours are also available. On the first Friday of every month, the gallery is open until 22:00, offering music and performances as well as the usual displays.
If you are staying several hours and want to have a meal, the Rex Whistler Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea, with a menu that reflects contemporary British cuisine. For sandwiches, salads, soups, cakes and pastries, the Tate Britain Cafe is open every day from 10:00 until 17:30. I have never visited the restaurant, but the choice of snacks at the cafe is very good and I appreciate giving my weary legs a rest there as well as having a break from the works of art.
Tate Britain is situated in an imposing building (once a prison) at Millbank by the River Thames. Having originally opened in 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art with the collection of Henry Tate, a sugar magnate, it expanded to include international art in 1917. When the international collection was transfered to Tate Modern in the year 2000, The Tate Gallery became Tate Britain, as Henry Tate had first intended it to be.
You can go by train from London Waterloo to Vauxhall station, from where it is a short walk; the nearest underground stations are Vauxhall or Pimlico. Spend the morning at Tate Britain, then take the Tate Boat along the River Thames to Tate Modern. If you have already had your fill of art, you can alight at the London Eye for a spot of sightseeing.
If you love Turner's paintings, this is the largest single display of his work you will find anywhere. Tate Britain also offers an interesting juxtaposition of contemporary and traditional art that is not available at London's other major galleries. I wish it were as easy to get to as the Tate Modern (which is just a walk along the embankment from Waterloo station), but it is certainly worth making the journey to see the best of our British art.
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