Above: View of Tate Modern

Last time, I talked about the historical and modern collections of the British Museum, one of the greatest museums in the entire world.

Today, I want to share about another one of Britain’s famous museums, the Tate Modern.

#9 Tate Modern

The Tate Modern is the United Kingdom’s national museum of international modern and contemporary art.

The Tate is actually a network of four galleries: Tate Britain (which officially opened in 1897 and was renamed in 2000), Tate Liverpool (1988), Tate St. Ives (1993) and our topic of discussion, the Tate Modern (2000).

The original Tate Gallery located at Millbank in London opened in July 21, 1897. Its official name was the National Gallery of British Art; but soon it became popularly known as the Tate Gallery - named after its founder Sir Henry Tate, an English sugar merchant from Chorley, Lancashire.

It was built on the site of Millbank Penitentiary (which was demolished in 1892), and was made to house a collection of 19^th century British painting and sculpture given to the nation by Sir Henry Tate, together with some British paintings transferred from the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

At that time the responsibility was specifically for modern British art. Back then modern art was defined as those works made by artists born after 1790. In 1917, more pieces were added to the gallery - the national collection of international modern art and a lot more British art dating back to about 1500 – making it officially a national gallery for both modern and historical artworks.

In 2000, the Tate Gallery was renamed into the Tate Britain and some of its pieces have been distributed into the four galleries, with most of the historical local artworks remaining there.

Above: Tate Britain

Tate Britain (pictured above) can be visited from Tate Modern via boat (a very short but highly recommended ride).

The Tate Modern gallery is housed in the former Bankside Power Station (which was closed in 1981) on the banks of the Thames. The museum opened in May 12, 2000. The building itself boasts of great architectural work – by Herzog and de Meuron themselves, awardees of the Pritzker Prize (the highest of honor in architecture).

Turbine Hall, the building’s first level, runs the full length of the building and is five storeys high. The largest of all the levels, Turbine Hall has approximately 3,400 square meters of floor space. It annually displays specially commissioned work by contemporary artists.

Here is the list of the past artists that have exhibited in the hall:

> 2000 - Louise Bourgeois : Maman, I Do, I Undo, I Redo

> 2001 - Juan Muñoz : Double Bind

> 2002 - Anish Kapoor : Marsyas (pictured below)

> 2003 - Olafur Eliasson : The Weather Project

> 2004 - Bruce Nauman : Raw Materials

> 2005 - Rachel Whiteread : Embankment

> 2006 - Carsten Höller : Test Site

> 2007 - Doris Salcedo : Shibboleth

> 2008 - Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster

Above: The Marsyas is made of steel and PVC

Level 3 of the Tate Modern houses artworks on abstraction, expressionism and abstract expressionism. It displays the works of by Claude Monet, Anish Kapoor, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko and Tacita Dean.

Below: Picasso Painting

Level 5 of the museum houses creations on minimalism, conceptual art and constructivism with work by such artists as Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Martin Creed and Jenny Holzer. The other half of the level focuses on Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism and Pop Art. It boasts of the work of Pablo Picasso (pictured above is his “Nude Woman with Necklace”), Eugène Atget, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol (pictured below: one of his celebrity paintings of American icon Marilyn Monroe).

Below: Marilyn Monroe painting made by Andy Warhol

Levels 2 and 4 are used for smaller and larger temporary exhibitions, respectively.

To differentiate Tate Modern from the others, we describe it as more lively and upbeat – being a symbol of modernism and all. You definitely would not want to miss out on one of the best collections of modern art in the world.

Plus, if you want to experience a different side of Tate Modern, their bar on the top floor is open late on Fridays and Saturdays. It offers a great view of London at night – great ambience for relaxation, complimented with great company and quality food and refreshments.

You can reach Tate Modern through the Southwark Tube. Its address is Bankside, London SE19TG with telephone number +44 (0)20 7887 8888. Entrance to the gallery is free.