1. and so on — и так далее

2. to go on = to continue — продолжать

3. For hours — в течение нескольких часов

Tate Gallery

The idea of the Tate Gallery took shape ¹ in 1890. In that year Henry Tate's gift of sixty-five paintings and two sculptures was offered to the nation, but a gallery had stilt to be built to house them. When opened seven years later the Tate Gallery consisted of eight rooms. Since that time, the. collection has been greatly enlarged. It has become the national collection of British painting of all periods, and in addition to this the national collection of modern foreign paintings, and the national collection of modern sculpture both British and foreign. At present the collec­tion contains over four thousand British paintings and draw­ings (by J. M. W. Turner, H. Moore and many others), over three hundred and fifty modern foreign paintings, etc.

The growth of the building has also been impressive: the eight original galleries built by Tate have now become thirty-four, including Sculpture Gallery, and the Tate is now the largest picture gallery in the British Common­wealth.

Note

1. to take shape — воплотиться The National Gallery

If you stand today in Trafalgar Square with your back to the Nelson Column you will see a wide horizontal front in a classical style: the National Gallery. It has been in this building since 1838.

The national picture gallery is comparatively young, younger than the great galleries in Rome, Paris and so on.

An interesting fact is that in 1777 one of the greatest private collections of pictures was offered for sale. Some of the members of Parliament suggested this collection to be bought for the Nation and a special gallery for it to be built near the British Museum. But this suggestion found no support in the House of Commons and the wonderful pictures were brought to Russia. They are in the Gallery of Hermitage in Leningrad. Now one can admire a great number of pictures by great British painters Hogarth, Constable, Turner, the portraits by Gainsborough, Rey­nolds who became famous the world over as well as the world's greatest masters—Michel Angelo, Raphael, Rem­brandt, Holbein, Goya and many others. All great schools of painting are represented here: Italian, Spanish, etc.

The Royal Academy of Arts

Since 1869 Burlington House is the home of the Royal Academy of Arts, whose exhibitions attract thousands of visitors every year.

The Royal Academy's services to the arts began over 200 years ago. Its first President, Sir Joshua Reynolds,¹ succeeded in creating in the Academy a body of highly skilled professional artists to foster the arts.

The Academy's purpose is the teaching of art to Brit­ain's most talented students. About 100 students attend the Academy. Since 1768 some 6,500 artists and architects have been trained, free of charge,² in the Schools of Paint­ing and Drawing, Sculpture and Architecture.

The exhibitions of the students' work in June and No­vember attract leading teachers and art critics.

The Summer Exhibition has been held since 1769. It is the largest annual open art show in the world and the se­lection is made by 15 leading Royal Academicians who judge some 10,000 works. The exhibition remains open lor three and a half months and the majority of the works are for sale.

The Academy believes it to be important that every year there should be an opportunity open to all artists to exhibit and sell their works in London.

Notes