Lesson 6 london art galleries
London is visited by millions of tourists every year. They come there to see the sights of London and visit London’s museums and art galleries.
There is quite a number of art galleries in London which are world-famous.
The National Gallery is situated in Trafalgar Square and is one of the best known art galleries in the world. It was founded in 1824 and houses one of the most important collections of Italian paintings outside Italy. It is also famous for its Dutch collection, particularly for paintings by Rembrandt.
Th.e National Portrait Gallery is situated near the National Gallery. It is Britain’s leading art gallery of portraits of famous people in British history. The National Portrait Gallery is noted for representing various kinds of portraits - from traditional oil paintings to photographs.
Founded in 1856, it contained over 800 original portraits and more 500000 photographs in 1984.
The famous Tate Gallery was opened in 1897 with the financial support of Sir Henry Tate. He also gave a collection of 65 paintings. The Gallery contains a unique collection of British painting from the 16th century to the present day.
Turner and Black are particularly well represented in the collections. The Gallery also has many drawings and modem sculpture, ł
Topical vocabulary
to see the sights - осматривать достопримечательности;
an art gallery - художественная галерея;
to be world-famous - быть известным во всем мире;
to house smth. - вмещать, содержать;
an important collection - значительная коллекция;
to represent smth. - представлять что-либо;
traditional oil painting-традиционная картина маслом;
to contain a unique collection - содержать уникальную коллекцию;
to be particularly well represented - быть особенно полно представленным;
to attract tourists - привлекать туристов;
original portrait - оригинал портрета.
Answer the questions:
What collections does the National Gallery house?
What is the National Portrait Gallery noted for?
What painters are particularly well represented in the Tate Gallery?
Where is the National Gallery situated in London?
When was the National Gallery founded?
Where is the National Portrait Gallery situated?
Why is the National Portrait Gallery famous?
When was the National Portrait Gallery founded?
How many portraits did the National Portrait Gallery contain?
When was the Tate Gallery opened?
Who helped to open the Tate Gallery?
What does this Gallery contain?
Are Turner and Black well represented in the collections?
Lesson 7
THE NATIONAL GALLERY
The National Gallery was founded in 1824 and houses the national collection of Western European painting: over 2000 pictures from 1260 to 1960. The collection represents all the major European schools of painting and includes masterpieces by virtually all the great artists. It is arranged by period in four wings.
Sainsbury Wing: Painting from 1260 to 1510 including Van Eyck, Piero Della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Bellini and Raphael.
West Wing: Painting from 1510 to 1600 including Holbein, Michelangelo, Titian, Veronese.
North Wing: Painting from 1600 to 1760 including Rubens, Van Dyck, Poussin, Claude, Velasquez, Rembrandt and Vermeer.
East Wing: Painting from 1760to 1900 including Gainsborough, Turner, Constable, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Seurat.
A portable CD player provides audio commentaries to almost every painting displayed on the main floor.
A highlights tour of 30 great paintings is available in six languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese.
Micro Gallery Computer Information Room.
A computerized information system of the entire collection enables visitors to explore individual areas of interest - whether it is a particular painting, artist, period or subject matter!
Use of the system is free of charge.
Gallery talks are available for schools, providing a lively and accessible introduction to the collection.
Special events for families and children are arranged for school holidays and children’s quizzes are available from the information desks.
Student musicians from the Royal college of Music perform each Wednesday evening in the Sainsbury Wing Foyer.