London's original Tate Gallery has been split in two with the original now housing the Tate Gallery of British Art and the new building housing the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. If you're interested in twentieth century art, this is the place to go in London.

The Collections

The museum shows international modern art from 1900 to the present. Instead of ordering the collection around artists or time periods, it is organized into four themes: the nude, landscape, still life, and history. Dozens of large interconnected rooms spread over two very large exhibit floors house this permanent collection.

Some of the well known artists that are well represented include Picasso, Warhol, Mondrian, Giacometti, Matisse, Rothko and Monet. Paintings comprise the bulk of the collection, but there is a generous amount of sculpture including works of Rodin, Oldenburg, and Naum Gabo.

When we were there, the entire floor of rotating exhibit space contained a show called Between Cinema and a Hard Place,a survey of late twentieth century installation art including film, video, and sculpture. In addition, there were some very large sculptures, including a 25 foot tall spider like being in the huge "turbine hall."

The Building

The home of the Tate Modern is interesting in its own right: hard on the south banks of the Thames across from The City, it's a huge brick building, complete with towering brick chimney, that was once a power plant. The football-field-sized turbine hall is now empty except for the very large museum shop, some study rooms, and some monumental exhibits. The powerhouse's massive overhead crane system has been left as a reminder of the building's former purpose.

The scale of the building allows for a spacious museum, with two of the seven levels devoted to permanent galleries and one reserved for temporary exhibits. There are two large cafes and an espresso bar. The view from the seventh floor cafe is great. Because it's new, wheelchair accessibility is excellent.

Practical Information

The Tate Modern is right on the south banks of the Thames, across from The City, in the same urban renewal area that contains the rebuilt Shakespeare's Globe Theater, but it's off the beaten track because the Thames pedestrian bridge that was to connect it conveniently to The City has been closed due to safety concerns. The quickest way to get there is to take the underground to Southwark station and follow the signs for a 10-minute walk.

Between travel time, viewing the exhibits, and getting a meal, plan to spend half a day here. Don't hesitate to eat in the museum cafes, which are quite good and not especially expensive.

In addition to displaying art, the Tate has a daily series of free guided tours, talks in the galleries, lectures, and films. There are multilingual audio guides available for only £1.

You'll find the Tate's web site at http://www.tate.org.uk .

Here's the best part: admission to the permanent collections is free.



Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov