Art Galleries

National Gallery

This fantastic gallery holds paintings by all of Western Europe’s greatest artists, from the Middle Ages onwards. Raphael, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubens, Goya, Turner, Hogarth, Monet and Van Gogh are all well represented. Don’t miss these incredible masterpieces:

Sunflowers, Van Gogh

Samson and Delilah, Rubens

The Virgin of the Rocks, da Vinci

The Fighting Temeraire, Turner

Bathers at La Grenouillère, Monet

Venus and Mars, Botticelli

Mr and Mrs Andrews, Gainsborough

Self Portrait at the Age of 34, Rembrandt

Tate Britain

Tate Britain is Britain’s national collection of paintings by British artists and it traces the development of British painting from Tudor times to the present day. It’s a vast collection of over 65,000 paintings so there’s a lot to see, including an excellent wing devoted entirely to Turner. Here are some of the highlights are:

Norham Castle, Turner

Ophelia, Millais

The Lady of Shalott, Waterhouse

The Dance, Hogarth

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, Sargent

Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow, Constable

National Portrait Gallery

This marvellous collection of images of the great and good of Britain throughout the ages, represented in painting, photography and sculpture, is well worth a visit. Some of the most popular portraits are:

Sir Walter Scott (bust), Sir Francis Chantrey

Shakespeare, John Taylor

Charles Darwin, John Collier

Winston Churchill, Walter Richard Sickert

Diana Princess of Wales (photograph) David Bailey

Tate Modern

Opened in 2000, this museum is the premier British collection of international modern art. It contains collections from the early modern period, including impressionism and post-impressionism, right up to the present day. Check out these works:

Water Lilies, Claude Monet

The Snail, Henri Matisse

Figure in a Landscape, Francis Bacon

Comedy, Paul Klee

Nude Woman in a Red Armchair, Pablo Picasso

Forgotten Horizon, Salvador Dali