Gallery sights in London
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
National Gallery
Gazing grandly over Trafalgar Sq through its Corinthian columns, the National Gallery is the nation's most important repository of art. Four million visitors come annually to admire its 2300-plus Western European paintings, spanning the years 1250 to 1900. Highlights include Turner's The Fighting Temeraire (voted Britain's greatest painting), Botticelli's Venus and Mars and van Gogh's Sunflowers. The medieval religious paintings in the Sainsbury Wing are fascinating, but for a short, sharp blast of brilliance, you can't beat the truckloads of Monets, Cézannes and Renoirs.
reviewed
-
B
Tate Modern
It's hard to miss this surprisingly elegant former power station on the side of the river, which is fortunate as the tremendous Tate Modern really shouldn't be missed. Focussing on modern art in all its wacky and wonderful permutations, it's been extraordinarily successful in bringing challenging work to the masses, becoming one of London's most popular attractions.
Outstanding temporary exhibitions (on the 4th floor; prices vary) continue to spark excitement, as does the periodically changing large-scale installation in the vast Turbine Hall. The permanent collection is organised into four themed sections, which change periodically but include works by the likes of Mark R…
reviewed
-
C
Tate Britain
Unlike the National Gallery, Britannia rules the walls of Tate Britain. Reaching from 1500 to the present, it's crammed with local heavyweights like Blake, Hogarth, Gainsborough, Whistler, Spencer and, especially, Turner, whose work dominates the Clore Gallery. His 'interrupted visions' – unfinished canvasses of moody skies – wouldn't look out of place in the contemporary section, alongside the work of David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin, Angela Bulloch and Damien Hirst. The always-controversial annual Turner Prize is exhibited in the gallery from October to January.
There are free hour-long guided tours, taking in different sections of the gallery, held daily at…
reviewed
-
D
National Portrait Gallery
The fascinating National Portrait Gallery is like stepping into a picture book of English history. Founded in 1856, the permanent collection (around 11,000 works) starts with the Tudors on the 2nd floor and descends to contemporary figures (from pop stars to scientists). An audiovisual guide (£3) will lead you through the gallery's most famous pictures.
reviewed
-
E
Institute Of Contemporary Arts
A one-stop contemporary-art bonanza, the exciting program at the ICA includes film, photography, theatre, installations, talks, performance art, DJs, digital art and book readings. Stroll around the galleries, watch a film, browse the bookshop, then head to the bar for a beer.
reviewed
-
F
Dulwich Picture Gallery
The UK’s oldest public art gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery was designed by the idiosyncratic architect Sir John Soane between 1811 and 1814 to house Dulwich College’s collection of paintings by Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Poussin, Lely, Van Dyck and others. It’s a wonderful, atmospheric place but, with scarcely a dozen rooms to hang the artwork, wall space is limited and it is difficult to view some of the paintings properly. Unusually, the collectors Noel Desenfans and painter Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois chose to have their mausoleums, lit by a moody lumière mystérieuse (mysterious light) created with tinted glass, placed among the pi…
reviewed
-
G
Serpentine Gallery
What looks like an unprepossessing 1930s-style tearoom in the midst of the leafy Kensington Gardens is one of London’s most important contemporary art galleries. Artists including Damien Hirst, Andreas Gursky, Louise Bourgeois, Gabriel Orozco, Tomoko Takahashi and Jeff Koons have all exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery, and the gallery’s huge windows beam natural light onto the pieces, making the space perfect for sculpture and interactive displays. Every year a leading architect (who has never built in the UK) is commissioned to build a new ‘Summer Pavilion’ nearby, which is open from May to October. Past architects have included Alvaro Siza, Oscar Niemeyer, Daniel Libes…
reviewed
-
H
Royal Academy of Arts
Set back from Piccadilly, it hosts high-profile exhibitions and a small display from its permanent collection. The crafty academy has made it a condition of joining its exclusive club of 80 artists that new members donate one of their artworks. Past luminaries have included Constable, Gainsborough and Turner, while Sir Norman Foster, David Hockney and Tracey Emin are among the current crop.
reviewed
-
I
Photographers’ Gallery
Moved from its two-part gallery space off Leicester Sq in December 2008, this fantastic institution has massively benefited from the new premises. Designed by O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects, the gallery now consists of two floors of exhibition space, a lovely cafe and well-stocked bookshop, plus a top-floor shop where you can buy original prints. The prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Competition (annually 9 February to 8 April) is of major importance for contemporary photographers; past winners include Richard Billingham, Luc Delahaye, Andreas Gursky, Boris Mikhailov and Juergen Teller. The gallery always exhibits excellent and thought-provoking work.
reviewed
-
J
White Cube Gallery
This central sister to the Hoxton original hosted Tracey Emin’s first exhibition in five years, ‘Those who suffer Love’, in 2009, thus, together with the massively publicised Damien Hirst ‘For the Love of God’ exhibition two years before, bringing back some of the publicity for the (now not-so-young) Young British Artists (YBAs). Housed in Mason’s Yard, a traditional courtyard with brick houses and an old pub, the White Cube looks like an ice block – white, straight-lined and angular. The two contrasting styles work well together and the courtyard often serves as a garden for the gallery on popular opening nights.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Courtauld Institute of Art
Immediately to your right as you enter the grounds of Somerset House from The Strand, you’ll find the Courtauld Institute of Art, a superb gallery connected to the Courtauld Institute of Arts, Britain’s foremost academy of art history. Have an uncrowded stroll between the walls of this wonderful place, and see work by Rubens, Botticelli, Cranach, Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, Manet, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, to mention but a few. There are lunchtime talks on specific works or themes from the collection at 1.15pm every Monday and Friday. A little cafe and the plush Admiral 2 restaurant provide sustenance.
reviewed
-
L
Queen’s Gallery
Paintings, sculpture, ceramics, furniture and jewellery are among the items displayed in the collection of art amassed by the royals over 500 years. The splendid gallery was originally designed by John Nash as a conservatory. It was converted into a chapel for Queen Victoria in 1843, destroyed in a 1940 air raid and reopened as a gallery in 1962. A £20-million renovation for Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 enlarged the entrance and added a Greek Doric portico, a multimedia centre and three times as much display space. Entrance to the gallery is through Buckingham Gate.
reviewed
-
M
Whitechapel Art Gallery
A firm favourite of art students and the avant-garde cognoscenti, this gallery provides a less cliquey forum for modern art than the White Cube in Hoxton. The gallery is currently under expansion, but should be offering its full exhibition programme by the time you read this. There is also a small but perfectly formed dining room with high-profile chef Maria Elia at the helm. The menu is short but comprehensive with things like roast rabbit, grilled sea bream and inventive vegetarian dishes.
reviewed
-
N
White Cube Gallery Hoxton Sq
Jay Jopling, dealer to the stars of the Brit Art firmament, made his reputation in the 1990s by exhibiting then-unknown artists such as Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin. This Hoxton Sq cube is aptly named and, while the gallery is now part of Britain’s ‘new establishment’, it’s always worth a visit just to have a look at the latest shows. There’s another White Cube in St James’s.
reviewed
-
O
Building Centre
Interested in where London’s architecture is headed? Visit the New London Architecture website or the Building Centre. Along with changing exhibitions and an outstanding bookshop, it has a 1:1500-scale diorama model of London continually updated and covering everything from Paddington in the west to the Royal Docks in the east and from Battersea in the south to King’s Cross in the north.
reviewed
-
P
Pump House Gallery
A recent refurbishment of Battersea Park has seen the 19th-century landscaping reinstated and the grand riverside terraces spruced up. At the same time, the Festival of Britain pleasure gardens, including the spectacular Vista Fountains, have been restored. There are lakes, plenty of sporting facilities, an art space called the Pump House Gallery and a small Children’s Zoo.
reviewed
-
Q
Bankside Gallery
Home of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, this friendly upbeat place has no permanent collection, but there are frequently changing exhibitions of watercolours, prints and engravings. Call ahead or visit the website for details of events, such as evenings on which artists talk about their work.
reviewed
-
R
Hayward Gallery
Part of the Southbank Centre, the Hayward hosts a changing roster of contemporary art (video, installations, photography, collage, painting etc) in a 1960s Brutalist building.
reviewed
-
S
APT Gallery
Creekside street running parallel to Deptford Creek is lined with galleries and artists’ studios that have regularly changing art exhibitions, including APT Gallery.
reviewed
-
T
Art Hub
Creekside street running parallel to Deptford Creek is lined with galleries and artists’ studios that have regularly changing art exhibitions, including Art Hub.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Saatchi Gallery
Funded by the eponymous Charles, patron of such Brit Artists as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, the gallery offers some 6500 sq metres of space for temporary exhibitions.
reviewed
