Gianluca Introzzi

Review of Tate Britain & Tate Modern

Museum on British art, from the mid-1500s to today...

Museum on British art, from the mid-1500s to today. Rooms and halls of statues and paintings. After mediocre and stunted beginnings, to which much of the continent's artists have contributed, from Holbein to van Dick and Canaletto, English art finds its own way in the mid-1700s, as Britain becomes world power. Reynolds, Lawrence, Gainsborough, Turner and Constable are the protagonists of this golden age. Then there are the pre-Raphaelites and in the 1800s more and more artists crowd the scene. Many works document English art until 1910. The years 1920 to 1960 are barely mentioned, with only a few works per decade. A large common space shows some moments of the art of the last 60 years. Reynolds, Constable, Blake and Moore have rooms exclusively dedicated to them. A wing with eight rooms documents Turner's art. An entire day is necessary for a thorough visit.