Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Tate Britain, Millbank, Westminster SW1P 4RG. Telephone: 0207 887 8888. Website: tate.org
How much do the tickets cost?
Tate Britain is free, but temporary exhibitions might cost extra.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 10am to 6pm (Mon-Sun). Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to Tate Britain takes 1½ to 2 hours.
Which buses go to Tate Britain?
Bus routes 2, 36, 87, 88, 185, 436 and C10 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Pimlico on the Victoria line. You can walk the ⅓ mile to Tate Britain in about 6 minutes.
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The first few rooms make you wonder if you’ve wandered into the National Portrait Gallery by mistake because it’s all Tudor and Stuart kings and queens. Then you hit the Napoleonic battle scenes and late-18th and early 19th-century pictures by Thomas Gainsborough, John Singleton Copley and Edwin Landseer.
Photo: londondrum.comI aways enjoy looking at the London landscapes to see how it’s changed over the years. They’ve got one of Covent Garden and a couple by Samuel Scott of Westminster Bridge and the Embankment, but the highlight is Canaletto’s view of Horse Guards in 1749.
The Romantic Age & JMW Turner’s Clore Gallery
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When Turned died in 1851 he left 180 oil paintings and 19,000 drawings, watercolours and sketchbooks to the nation, and the gallery displays around 100 of them across eight different rooms. You’ll find the first few in the Woodson Room alongside John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral and the rest are in the purpose built Clore Gallery.
After introducing yourself to his famous self-portrait you’re straight into the light skies and sunshine of his Greek myths and Bible stories. Then come his pastoral pictures, stormy seas, naval battles, and a room full of Venice, Carthage and Rome, and it ends with his later works that could easily be mistaken for modern art.
Photo: londondrum.comThe Pre-Raphaelites Room
Even if you’re not particularly into art then every wall of the Pre-Raphaelites room will have an image that you’ll recognise. My favourite is The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse. I remember quite liking this lady at school and it doesn’t take long to rekindle my schoolboy crush. I wonder if she still recognises me? Jesus Christ… look at the state of me. She hasn’t seen me for thirty years and I roll up looking like a tramp.
I start brushing down the front of my hair to make myself a bit more presentable while she patiently waits in her canoe. Don’t fall in for chrissakes because I’ll never forgive myself. Use your hands to paddle closer to the bank! Is she expecting me to wade in and save her? Oh, sod this. Now I’ve suddenly remembered why we split up thirty years ago – she’s too much hard work.
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Close by is Sir John Everett Millais’ famous painting of Ophelia floating face-up down an overgrown canal. I’ve always considered this the world’s most depressing painting and it’s best not to look at it too long in case you recall it in your dreams.
Francis Bacon & Henry Moore sculptures
The Tate certainly does have more than its fair share of depressing scenes. Check out the dramatic landscapes by John Martin – they’re as close as you’re going to get to a photo of the apocalypse. And if a butcher swapped his knives for a paintbrush then he’d end up creating something like Francis Bacon – he transforms living people into twisted pieces of meat with traumatised expressions on their faces.
Alongside Francis Bacon are two rooms devoted to Henry Moore with his sculptures, maquettes and a few films, photos and drawings.
20th-century and contemporary art
It’s coming to something when you have to turn to the belching chimneys of LS Lowry for a bit of light relief. The sunshine doesn’t return until you reach the summer scenes of David Hockney and his Californian swimming pools.
Photo: londondrum.comThe gallery ends with some daft aft (contemporary art) where you find yourself staring at some light bulbs, a rusty old engine, an abacus with bottles instead of balls, and a video of someone spinning round and round in circles.
If I had to sum the whole place up then I’d say it’s the next-best National Gallery, the next-best National Portrait Gallery, and the next-best Tate Modern, but all crammed into a single building.
I’ve ranked Tate Britain as ★2 in my top 10 London galleries and ★7 in London’s best free days out
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What do you think? (6)
Ask a question, or share your experience of Tate Britain
JPM If I had to choose my favourite gallery in London then I would probably choose Tate Britain. Why? Mainly for the Turners which are amazing, especially his large scale works which have some of the best examples of ‘light’ I have ever seen, but also for the traditional landscapes like Constable, which uses simple observational skills that you rarely see these days, transplanted instead by the brutal methods that most modern artists prefer. Visit here if you love painting, and you love the traditional skills that seem to have fallen by the wayside. (reply)
Edward There are some great paintings in here. They are all British artists here – that is why its called Tate Britain – so obviously there isn’t the range of artists that you will find at the National Gallery which is superior, but if you like landscapes then there are some of the greatest landscape painters of all-time. If you go then plan some time to take the boat between Tate Britain and Tate Modern. That is a lovely boatride that goes past lots of famous places. (reply)
kathrun Are you allowed to take photos on your phone? (reply)
Craig Hi Kathrun. You can in the main galleries, as long as you don’t use flash. They sometimes have different rules for the temporary exhibitions though. (reply)
geoff How far is it to walk from the station. (reply)
Craig Hi Geoff. It’s not far, about an 8-10 minute walk from Pimlico station. (reply)
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