Art Galleries in London: Three Places Every Art Lover Should Know
London is home to some of the world’s best-known art galleries. From historic European masterpieces at the National Gallery to British art at Tate Britain and international modern and contemporary art at Tate Modern, each offers a very different experience.
London has an extraordinary range of art galleries, from small independent spaces to some of the largest and most famous collections in the world. You could spend days exploring them, but three galleries provide a particularly interesting introduction to the different sides of London’s art scene: the National Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern.
The National Gallery
The National Gallery sits in the heart of London overlooking Trafalgar Square and houses the national collection of Western European paintings from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its collection contains more than 2,600 paintings, covering some of the most important developments in European painting over several hundred years.
What makes the collection particularly interesting is the range of artists and periods represented. Visitors can see works by artists including Van Gogh, Turner, Velázquez and Jan van Eyck, alongside paintings from the Renaissance, Impressionist and other major European traditions. Some of the paintings have become almost as familiar as the artists themselves, such as Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait.
The National Gallery is therefore a fascinating place to explore if you want to see how European painting developed over centuries. Rather than concentrating on one particular style, it allows you to move through different periods and see how artists approached subjects such as landscapes, portraits, religion and everyday life.
Tate Britain
Tate Britain offers a very different perspective. Its collection is devoted to British art, covering the period from around 1500 to the present day. This makes it a useful place to explore how British artists have responded to changing ideas, society and artistic movements over the centuries.
The collection includes historic British painting as well as more modern and contemporary work. Rather than looking at British art as one particular style, Tate Britain provides an opportunity to see the enormous variety within it, from traditional painting and portraiture through to more experimental approaches.
For anyone interested in British art, it provides a chance to follow that story across several centuries and see how artists have interpreted Britain and British life in very different ways.
Tate Modern
If the National Gallery takes you through centuries of European painting and Tate Britain concentrates on British art, Tate Modern takes you into the world of international modern and contemporary art.
The gallery occupies the former Bankside Power Station on the south bank of the Thames, and even the building itself has become part of the experience. Inside, the collection includes major works from the 20th century onwards and explores movements and ideas that changed the way people thought about what art could be.
Tate Modern is particularly interesting because contemporary art doesn’t necessarily look like the traditional paintings found in galleries such as the National Gallery. Paintings sit alongside sculpture, installations, photography and other forms of artistic expression. Some works may be immediately understandable, while others can leave you wondering exactly what you are looking at — which is often part of the experience.
Three galleries, three different views of art
These three galleries demonstrate just how broad the idea of art can be. The National Gallery provides a journey through centuries of European painting, Tate Britain explores the development of British art, while Tate Modern looks at international modern and contemporary work.
You don’t necessarily need to be an art expert to enjoy them. Sometimes the most interesting part of visiting a gallery is simply finding a work that catches your attention and asking yourself why it does.
