Tate Gallery

The Tate Gallery, one of London's largest art collections, was opened in 1897 in a classical-style building designed by Sidney R. J. Smith on Millbank, on the banks of the Thames. The gallery was built at the expense of Sir Henry Tate, a wealthy art collector, who presented his own collection to the nation as the basis of a national collection of significant British pictures from the 16th century to the present day.

The layout of the gallery has been altered in recent years and director Nicholas Serota has completely re-grouped the exhibits. Whereas the pictures used to be displayed in separate departments for the British collection 16th - 20th century, the international modern collection and the British modern collection, they are now all arranged chronologically, according to specific themes, under the headings "Past-Present-Future". Visitors are able to make immediate comparisons and see the relationships linking the exhibits. The central hall is now reserved for sculpture and extra rooms house temporary exhibitions. As the gallery can only show a third of its collection at one time, the items exhibited are changed every nine to 12 months and the visitor is advised to obtain a current plan of the exhibition at the information desk.