Tate Britain

The quiet streets of Pimlico

I have visited London many times before coming here to live.  I have also visited the Tate Modern many times, never once realising it is actually an offshoot of the Tate Britain.  Having realised the error of my ways a trip out to Pimlico was in order.  It is always fun to take a tube somewhere you haven't been before.  You really find that the different areas of London very much have their own particular feel.  Pimlico was particularly quiet, it's located near the Thames.  It's funny that on the south bank of the Thames there seems to be a bit of life and action, what with the Globe, the National Theatre, the London Eye and a lot of restaurants as well.  On the north bank it seems very quiet in comparison, it's funny that there seem to be so few restaurants or bars overlooking the Thames, I always thought people love water, that it's some sort of deep-seated evolutionary need in us to be close to water.

The impressive Tate Britain

There was going to be no restaurant stops after the museum, so it's time to just focus on the art.  It's a massive gallery, and like all galleries here it's wonderfully free.  It houses the world's biggest collection of British art from the 16th to the 21st century.  And whilst the modern art collection of the Tate has been moved to the Tate Modern, there was still a number of modern art pieces here.  In fact I think the modern art in the Tate Britain could have been better than that of the Tate Modern.

The title says it all really

The real selling point of the Tate Britain is the Turner galleries.  A lot of the works were left by Turner himself in 1851, and they really are the feature of this gallery.  Kind of like the impressionists gallery in the Musee d'Orsay of Paris.  Unfortunately this gallery was under renovation when we visited, and whilst a lot of the works were still on display, some of the ambience seemed to be lacking.

I love the galleries here, with included art

This was my favourite statue, with one of my favourite paintings in the background

A chandelier - why not

Palm trees as installation art

The Coral Reef : a room 

I have to say something about this last work.  It's called The Coral Reef and it's by Mike Nelson.  In fact we may have been very lucky to even see it as I think it may have finished at the end of last year, after 10 years at the Tate Britain.  It's this weird labyrinth of rooms, where the doors all close at different rates, and different creaking frequencies.  It gives you a real sense of foreboding as you walk through, that you might be lost, or that eventually you'll open a door to see a crazed serial killer.  It's the feeling you get from a good horror movie, there's nothing overt, it's just this feeling you have.  It would be awesome to have a massive mansion, just so you could devote 5 rooms of the place to these crazy art installations.

Another room from The Coral Reef, there were too many to count

Flying bunny in the main gallery

Hampstead Heath by Constable

I think Constable may have to be one of the more famous residents of Hampstead, and whilst he was living here he painted many scenes of the Heath.  I have to say I don't recognise the location though.