Tate Britain

The Tate Britain homes the national collection of British art dating from 1500 to the present day. The Tate Britain is just one in a family of four Tate galleries spread across London and the UK. The gallery prides itself on being at the centre of British art and work tirelessly to promote international interest in British artwork.

The Tate Gallery opened in 1897; it was then named as the National Gallery of British Art and was made up of 65 works of British Modern art and sculpture given to the nation by Henry Tate. After numerous other gifts in the early 20th Century, the Gallery was forced to expand the perimeters of its collection to include international artworks and therefore its Millbank premises.

The building of the Tate Gallery has spanned a century with expansions of the original building taking place as recently as 2001. The overall result is a dramatic one with a classical portico, columns and dome to the rear of the building. Inside a central sculpture gallery dominates numerous galleries, rooms and special exhibitions.

In 1955 the Tate Gallery was awarded its independence from the National Galley; up until that point the National Gallery had controlled the Tate's business it is now funded by the Government through the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The split of the Tate Gallery into the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern in 2000 gave more room to house its increasingly growing collection and temporary exhibitions.

Today at the Tate Britain the artwork is divided up into distinct sections that are then again split into various different rooms, entrance halls and ambulatories, the sections are:

British Art 1500 - 1900
British Art 1900 - 2007
Turner Collection
Ambulatory
Clore Entrance
Manton Stairs
Millbank Entrance
Rotunda Reading Area

The work on display in these sections is always changing so visitors are guaranteed to see new artworks as well as old favourites. Highlights of the collection include work by Francis Bacon, Turner, Rossetti, Allen Jones, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Lucien Freud, Christina Mackie, Henry Moore and many more.

The Tate Britain also houses temporary and special exhibitions; it also coordinates numerous family and children's activities and courses, many of which are free. To find out more about the above then check out our Family and Exhibitions sections on our homepage.

The Tate Britain is open daily from 10am till 5.50pm excepting Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On the first Friday of every month the gallery is open from 6pm till 10pm as part of Late at The Tate Britain.

Find out more about the Tate Britain.

How to get there

The closest tube stations are at Plimco and Vauxhall. If on the bus the 2, 24, 36, 87, 88, 185, 360, 436 and C10 are serve the Millbank area.

Tate Britain © Tate