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The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery Located
adjacent to each other at the top of Trafalgar Square, these
comprehensive galleries make up the core of Britain’s art collection .
The National Gallery
Tate Modern Housed
in a huge converted power station on the south bank of the Thames, this
exciting new gallery covers modern art from 1900 to the present day.
Tate Britain The
other Tate gallery in London, focusing on work from 1500 to the
present, has the best collection of British art in the world .
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
From Fra Angelico
to Van Gogh, this is a complete art course in one manageable gallery.
The core of the collection is the country’s finest Impressionist and
Post-Impressionist works, amassed by a textile magnate, Samuel Courtauld
(1876–1947). Many of them are instantly recognisable: Manet’s Bar at the Folies- Bergère, Van Gogh’s Self Portrait With Bandaged Ear, Gauguin’s Te Rerioa and Manet’s Déjeuner sur L’Herbe. Visit Somerset House’s fountain courtyard and riverside terrace café for a drink afterwards . Wallace Collection This
wonderful Victorian mansion belonged to Sir Richard Wallace (1818–90).
In 1897, his widow bequeathed the house and their amazing art collection
to the nation. Covering two floors, the 25 public rooms are beautifully
furnished with one of the best private collections of French
18th-century pictures, porcelain and furniture in the world. The
paintings are rich and voluptuous – notable works include Nicolas
Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time and Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier. There are English portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds. Dulwich Picture Gallery If
you have time, this suburban gallery is well worth a short train
journey. Britain’s oldest art gallery, which had a face-lift for the
Millennium, was opened in 1817. The important collection includes
Murillo’s Flower Girl, Poussin’s Triumph of David and Rembrandt’s Girl at the Window . Serpentine Gallery Major
contemporary artists tend to be shown here. Cindy Sherman and Gerhard
Richter have both showcased their works. This is one of London’s most
exciting galleries, often transforming its space to suit the work.
Installations have been known to spill out into the park – even to
become an outside tearoom. Busy on warm weekends.
Royal Academy The
Royal Academy’s continual big-name temporary exhibitions draw the
crowds, and it is often necessary to reserve a ticket in advance. The
traditional Summer Exhibition, which anyone can apply to enter, is also
extremely popula. Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace Established
in 1962 to display works from the Royal Collection, this fascinating
gallery shows paintings and other pieces from the royal collection.
Kenwood House This
majestic mansion with interiors designed by Robert Adam has a small but
important collection comprising 17th-century Dutch and Flemish works,
18th-century English portraits, and a small French Rococo section. There
are statues by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth in the extensive
grounds .
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