The Museums of London Part 1

Perhaps you don’t live in London, or don’t go to the museums much. Anyway here is a roundup of my favourite museums and galleries.  Many of them are public, some are private. Some are always free, some charge for some parts and not others. There is no particular order to them, just ones I like to go to and why.

National Gallery.  A superb museum with its impressive frontage onto Trafalgar square.  It has two parts to it the main gallery and the Sainsburys’ wing where the paid exhibitions are usually held.  The main part is free and well worth going to.  It holds some of the British national art collection but from artists of all nationalities.  It will take you from the early middle ages right up to 1900’s  (after which the Tate takes over).  It is an excellent place, with its grandiose stair case from the main entrance and the large galleries.  It houses some of may favourite paintings such as Turner’s Fighting Temeraire and Velasquez’s in the House of Martha and Mary (sickeningly he did this when he was 19).   It can get very crowded on the weekends but they have a late night opening on Friday evenings which is worth going to.

National Portrait Gallery.  Annexed to the back of the National Gallery this can often be overshadowed by its enormous neighbour. The main collection is free and as the name suggests houses the British national portrait collection.  Portraits, particularly of severe dutch people in black can get a little tedious but there is some great stuff here.  There is a superb portrait of Charles II in which he reminds me of a character from Harry Enfield. It shows the annual BP portrait exhibition, which is free to go to and this year was very good. There are various paid exhibition and it does a fine line in small, cheap exhibition.  One of my favourite exhibitions of this year, the art of the Russian’s was one such.

Tate Britain.  Probably my favourite gallery.  Right on the river, separated only by Millbank, and an easy work from Pimlico is it is a fine neo-classical building, on the site of an old prison.  This shows British artists work from the early middle ages until now.  This is presented in the walkthrough which takes you through it chronologically. There is a fine selection of Henry Moore sculptures but for me the siren call of this museum is the Clore gallery with its Turner paintings.  It is worth frequent revisits as particularly the more modern galleries are frequently re-hung.  It hosts the Turner Prize exhibition every year, although this is often rubbish.  In a recent exhibition there I came away with an orange.

Tate Modern, that enormous hymn to modern art is one of London’s prime destinations.  It can be approach impressively by the pedestrian bridge from St Pauls.  Beware thought it is often very crowded.  Now with the new Switch house up and open it is a vast museum.  The large turbine hall is home to frequently varying large pieces.  I still remember sunrise from when it first opened and a time when it played host to an enormous metal spider.  The main collection is free and there are usually at least 2 paying exhibition (Georgia O’Keefe being a recent example).  The new building is nice though and worth exploring.  The art is 1930’s onwards (basically).  Dorothea Tanning a favourite that can be seen here.

The V&A which can be found in South Kensington in the museum quarter, opposite the Naturally History and the Science Museum. Both of those are good by the way but the V&A is better.  It is free to enter but it hosts usually fashion based paying exhibitions a good example of which was the monstrously successful Alexander McQueen retrospective.  The V&A edict is to present the best of different media. There is not much painting there but you will see sculpture, pottery, porcelain, jewellery, musical instruments, furniture, architectural elements and my favourite; glass.  I have a predilection for glass and their glass gallery, hidden away at the top of the museum is often an oasis of calm.  It also has fine café , with sumptuous tilling which were commissioned by William Morris when the museum first opened. It also has one of the best gift shops in any museum.  

British Museum, the leviathan of London museums, the most visited, the highest number of items in its collection, the largest collection of Egyptian artefacts outside Egypt etc etc. Not to far from Holborn it is on the conveniently named museum street It is an enormous place, you are welcomed in by impressive neo-classical steps and frontage and the very large enclosed courtyard with the central rotunda which used to contain the British Library (now separate and at Kings Cross).  To try and go round the whole thing in one day is a leg and eye exhausting experience and can’t really be done.  Pick your gallery and do it justice.  My favourite is the recently refurbished Bronze age gallery on the first floor which displays various treasure hordes.  One thing that this, and in fact the V&A reveal is how similar artistic designs from pre-history are to modern and mordenist art.  The main collection is free and there are various paying exhibitions.  Pick your time as it can get very busy.  It is open late on Fridays.

Saatchi Gallery is a short walk from Sloane Square station in an old converted army barracks.  It is usually free but occasional the entire place is given over to a paid exhibition such as recently a tedious but popular Rolling Stones exhibition. This aside the exhibition changes frequently usually in keeping with a particular theme.  I have discovered some excellent people there such as Ged Quinn who I think is brilliant.  I have also seen some truly disturbing things and the most depressing exhibition I ever went to by Russian artist.  The only thing that doesn’t change is a room filled with sump oil which has a calming dark sheen to it.  Go with an open mind. 

The Serpentine is compromised of two buildings, the Serpentine proper and the Serpentine Sackler (5 minutes up the road).   Nestling in the middle of Hyde park by the fake river of the same name it is usually free and the exhibition is usually dedicated to one artist.  They tend to be very modern and tend to be challenging.  The last I went to was Leon Golub and while it was good I didn’t enjoy it.  The time before that there was display of posters, but only the backs of posters which made me very cross.  If you meander around the park near the gallery there are also various enormous architectural sculptures on display.

Gagosian is a chain of commercial galleries.  The one I like is on Britannia Street, a small side street near Kings Cross.  It is not easy to find.  Free to go in it has three large well lit rooms.  The display changes frequently and I have seen some good things including Henry Moore, Rachel Whiteread and Antony Caro.  Large sculptures are at home and well displayed in the space.  It is nice to wonder along occasionally and see what’s there.

House of Illustration is one of my favourite galleries.  I have written about it a number of times. It is part of the new Kings Cross development, by the new St Martin UAL site and in the same building as the Art Fund.  It specialises, as the name suggests, in exhibitions on illustrations.  You have to pay to get in but it’s cheap.  Quentin Blake is heavily involved and there is very good display of his work up there at the moment.  In the best possible way it is the best lunch time gallery.