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Guildhall Gallery

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(2 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)

Guildhall is a district of the city which receives little tourist traffic, though in common with all other areas of the square mile - is heavily populated with office workers. Traditionally used as a town hall for the last few hundred years, it was the place where medieval Londoners paid their taxes ('Gild' is payment, in the Anglo-Saxon language).

Parts of the current building date from 1411 and aside from a select few church properties, it's the only stone building to have survived the Great Fire of London in 1666. The two giants Gog and Magog are asociated with the Guildhall and were allegedly defeated by Brutus of Troy, then chained to the gates of his palace which stood where the current Guildhall is located.

The Guildhall is the administrative headquarters for the Corporation of London and its modern offices are nearby in the square. The corporation acquired a substantial art collection which it has added to over the centuries. A gallery was built to house the collection in 1885, but it was destroyed during The Blitz in 1941. The artworks were moved to various locations for protection, with much of the collection put into storage.

The new Guildhall Gallery was completed in 1999, as a place to bring the separate pieces of the collection together again. Many had also sadly deteriorated while in storage (often with the stretcher removed and the canvas rolled up). All have been, or are in the process of being restored. The collection is composed of around 4,000 works, with 250 on display at any one time.

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Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery (displaying Charles Saatchi's collection - one half of Saatchi and Saatchi advertising, before they were ousted in 1995) aims to provide an accessible forum for contemporary art.

The Saatchi Gallery opened over twenty years ago at a time when only those with a dedicated interest in contemporary art, visited the gallery to see work by new artists. After a two year period at County Hall, the gallery moved to its new premises in 2008, the 70,000 sq. ft. Duke of York HQ building on the King's Road, Chelsea. With the televised Turner Prize and Tate Modern's visitor numbers breaching the 5.5 million mark, awareness about contemporary art has certainly progressed since the Saatchi first opened its doors in 1985. It deserves more than a portion of the credit.

It's common for artists showing at The Saatchi Gallery to be unknown when first exhibited, not only to the general public but also to the commercial art world. Many of these artists are subsequently offered shows by galleries and museums internationally. In this respect, the gallery is an important springboard for young artists hoping to gain national and international recognition.

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Tate Modern

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(1 vote, average 4.00 out of 5)

The Tate Modern at Bankside, part of the Tate Group, is Britain's national gallery for modern art. The galleries are housed within the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of the iconic Battersea Power Station.

It's a huely popular attraction, but whether it furthers the cause of modern art, is not as easy to measure as visitor numbers. A recent review cites the high quality artwork being at odds with the bland structure it's housed in. Which couldn't be further from personal experience. To me, the vast majority of people love the building and have limited affection for the art displayed inside it. No matter - visit the gallery and make up your own mind within its vibrant and busy atmosphere.

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The Wallace Collection

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(9 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)

The Wallace Collection is situated in Manchester Square, a few hundred yards from the hectic bustle of Oxford Street.

The Halt During the Chase - by Antoine Watteau is featured in one of the salons.

It has a world-renowned range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries, presented in 25 galleries. Curiously overlooked by many visitors, possibly because it's nudged to the back by bigger, more well-known attractions and sights. Take the time to investigate, however - its intimacy could well propel it into your own personal-favourites list.

Formation

The collection was bequeathed to Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890) -the illegitimate son of the 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800-1870). It was then donated to the nation, by his surviving widow. The museum opened to the public in 1900 in Hertford House, Manchester Square,where it has remained. A condition of the bequest was that no object ever leave the collection, even for loan exhibitions. Meaning, the only possibility of seeing these globally important works, is by paying a visit to the Wallace Collection.

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Somerset House

Somerset House a large neo-classical building built by Sir William Chambers overlooking the Thames alongside Waterloo Bridge. It was extended through the addition of wings during the Victorian era.
In the late 20th century the building was reinvigorated as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in was the Courtauld Institute of Art, including the Courtauld Gallery, which has an internationally significant collection of Old Master and Impressionist paintings. In the late 1990s the main courtyard ceased to be a civil service carpark (hard to believe, but true), and the main terrace overlooking the Thames was refurbished and opened to the public. It was recently used as the location shoot for the film - The Duchess.

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