Tate

Tate is a network of four galleries in the UK: Tate Britain (opened 1897), Tate Liverpool ( 1988), Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern ( 2000) and an associated website Tate Online ( 1998). The museum gives every year the Turner prize to an artist under 50.

Henry Tate, who was passing through sugar plantations had to wealth, the State offered to give his art collection to the public and to build a museum for it, if the state make a property available and would then manage the house. Thus, the original Tate Gallery in 1894 officially as " National Gallery of British Art " ( National Gallery of British Art ) was planned and opened in 1897. The building was erected on the banks of the Thames at the site of the demolished this huge Millbank Penitentiary in Millbank, Pimlico, London.

Initially the collection included only English works of art of that era ( Victorian ). Later, foreign artists were included in the collection. In the 20th century, finally, the acquisitions comprised principally modern art.

In December 1992, the Tate Trust Fund announced that the exhibit space of the collection should be distributed in London in two places. The entire building in Millbank should show British art from 1500 to the present day and hot Tate Britain. There are also a unique collection of works by William Turner can be seen in a separate wing. Elsewhere, a gallery of international modern and contemporary art, Tate Modern arise should.

On 12 May 2000, the Tate Modern was in an old oil-fired power plant, the Bankside Power Station, opened in the middle of London. The original building was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and built in two steps 1947-1963. In 1981, the power station was no longer needed and closed. The conversion was carried out in 1993 by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with the Zurich landscape architect Kienast Vogt & Partner ( outdoor facilities ). The cost of the conversion amounted to 134 million pounds sterling ( approximately 196 million euros ).

Galleries are located in the third, fourth and fifth floor of the building. Thematic exhibitions from the collection of the permanent collection of the gallery are located on floors 3 and 4, while temporary exhibitions are shown on the fourth floor. The very high main hall of the building, which originally housed the turbines and in the overhead crane is still preserved, is used for temporary exhibitions specially produced works by contemporary artists. This is sponsored by the company Unilever. This series should be maintained initially only the first five years, but has now been extended due to its popularity until 2008.

In 1988, the Tate Liverpool was opened in a converted warehouse in the Albert Dock in Liverpool. It is home to two major types of exhibitions: selected works from the Tate Collection and special exhibitions of contemporary art from loans from public and private collections. In addition, there is still an exhibition about the Beatles Story.

The Tate St Ives in Cornwall, was opened in June 1993 and offers a unique insight into modern art, because you can see many works in the area and the atmosphere that has inspired them. There are also exhibitions over a certain period, which shows works by contemporary artists who have emerged in art projects that were initiated by the gallery. The gallery goes back to an artists' colony, which was established in 1928 by Alfred Wallis ( 1855-1942 ), Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood founded. The Tate St Ives also directs since 1980, the Barbara Hepworth Museum in St Ives, the former studio of the British sculptor, which was redesigned along with her sculpture garden to the museum after her death.

Tate Online is the comprehensive website of the four Tate galleries. It was set up to make the galleries a wider audience and to to let this increasingly participate in the activities of the galleries. The website also displays many works from the collections of galleries and informed in particular about the exhibitions.