For the first time in a decade, Tate Britain is rehanging its collection displays. At the world-renowned Millbank gallery, it’s all change for 800 artworks spanning five centuries of history from the Tudor period to the present day. Old favourites such as JMW Turner, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Henry Moore will remain in pride of place, but the reshuffle will also introduce recent discoveries and newly commissioned contemporary works, giving visitors a fresh perspective on the most comprehensive collection of British art in the world.
Tate Britain’s free-to-visit fixed display includes the work of 350 artists. Not only does it present a chance to widen the canon, but the opportunity to tell the nation’s story from a more considered, modern perspective. There are rooms dedicated to the Pre-Raphaelites and Henry Moore, and 100 works by JMW Turner are featured, but the collection is also brought bang up to date, with over 200 works that have been acquired since 2000, and 70 from the last five years. Over half of the contemporary artists are now women, but another new addition is a portrait by Joan Carlile dating from between 1650 to 1655; she is thought to be the first woman in Britain to work as a professional oil painter. The youngest artist featured is Rene Matić, born in 1997.
