Walking in the Footsteps of Art History in London

peopleinsunlight
May 17
6 min read

To stand before a reconstruction assembled from the fragments of an ancient monument one day and see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers the next, to find yourself frozen in front of an Alexander McQueen design the same afternoon or spend long moments with Turner’s misty landscapes, the city has to be London. During its imperial era, England brought artefacts, objects and collections from all corners of the world to London; it also played a significant role in the development of public museology. The fact that most of London’s major museums are still free to enter today is one of the city’s greatest strengths when it comes to making art accessible. In our New York piece we looked at how modern art took shape through MoMA, the Met and the Guggenheim. Now we will trace the history of art and visual culture from ancient civilisations to the early years of modernism through four of London’s great museums: the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery and Tate Britain.

British Museum

Founded in 1753 as the world’s first national public museum, the British Museum is home to one of the broadest collections of human history, with over 8 million works. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, Asia and Islamic art; you can explore every layer of civilisation under a single roof. One of the museum’s best-known artefacts is the Rosetta Stone. The key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, this stone is one of the turning points of historical science. The Parthenon Marbles (Elgin Marbles) are among the most discussed collections in terms of both art history and cultural heritage debates. The British Museum is not a traditional art museum but a museum of civilisation; to understand where art began, this is the place to start.

To see the fragments of an entire ancient structure transported here and displayed, and to be looking at an ancient monument not at the end of a long journey down old village paths but inside a museum in the heart of London, is an incredible experience. In examples like the Nereid Monument, the facades, sculptures and reliefs of a Lycian tomb have been reassembled almost like a stage set. You could sit and study them for hours. In another section, Ancient Egypt occupies a large part of the collection; hieroglyphs, wall paintings carved into stone and early examples of pictorial art. You see the visual language of art’s “twisted perspective” period. Even the differing skin tones in the depictions of male and female figures reveal the social structure of the era; men who worked outdoors were rendered in darker tones, while women associated with domestic life were painted in lighter shades.

Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A)

Founded in 1852, the V&A is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design. While the British Museum tells the story of history and civilisation, the V&A tells the story of the aesthetics humans have brought into everyday life: fashion, textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery, furniture, architecture, photography. With over 2.3 million objects, it covers 5,000 years of design history. What sets the V&A apart is that it treats art not just as a painting on a wall but as every object woven into life. One of the museum’s most striking sections is the fashion gallery; you can see iconic pieces from fashion history, from Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen. Raphael’s preparatory drawings for the Sistine Chapel are also here.

The medieval and Renaissance galleries were one of the sections that impressed me most. You find yourself breathless in front of the altarpieces with their gold-gilded carved wooden figures and hinged panels. Just imagine the effect these works must have had on people in a church centuries ago... From the centre of the museum you reach the John Madejski Garden; you are enchanted the moment you step in. An Italian-style courtyard garden with an oval pool, fountains and lemon trees. People picnicking on the grass, reading books, children playing around the pool. Finding such a vibrant, living space inside a museum is a wonderful thing, if only it were made compulsory in every city!

National Gallery

Founded in 1824, the National Gallery sits right in the heart of London with its Trafalgar Square location. It would not be wrong to call it the most comprehensive collection of Western European painting from the 13th century to the early 20th century. With over 2,300 works, it covers all the major periods of painting history from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, Vermeer’s A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, Monet’s Water Lilies, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Turner. Here you see the very best of classical painting.

In a museum with one of the world’s broadest collections of classical painting, you can imagine how many works I stopped in front of. That is why I still try to set aside at least half a day for the National Gallery every time I visit. One of the works that moved me most was Caravaggio’s Salome Receives the Head of John the Baptist (1609-10). The dramatic light and dark contrasts so characteristic of Caravaggio, the expressions on the figures’ faces, keep you standing in front of the painting for a long time. Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait from 1434 is one of the most analysed paintings in art history. If you look closely at the convex mirror in the background you can see the reflections of other figures in the room; the finest example of the Northern Renaissance’s obsession with detail. Another stop is Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors (1533). At the bottom of the painting you see a strange, distorted form; viewed from a certain angle you realise it is a skull. With a technique called anamorphic perspective, Holbein hid a reminder of death beside two powerful and wealthy ambassadors.

Jacob Jordaens’s The Holy Family and Saint John the Baptist (1620-25), with its vivid warm colours and full figures, draws you in to examine the painting with pleasure. Jordaens was a student of Rubens and carried the influence of Caravaggio; in this painting you can see traces of both. Monet’s The Beach at Trouville (1870) stirs a completely different feeling. Monet painted his wife Camille and a friend in the open air during their honeymoon. If you look closely at the paint surface you can still see grains of sand and fragments of seashell embedded in it; the most tangible proof of having worked on the beach. Canaletto’s Venetian vedute (cityscapes) are another strong corner of the museum. The Grand Canal, gondolas, reflections of light on the water; you find yourself watching 18th-century Venice with a realism and poeticism that goes beyond a photograph, almost as if you were looking through a window.

Tate Britain

Opened in 1897, Tate Britain is a museum dedicated entirely to British art. It houses the most comprehensive collection of British art from the 16th century to the present day. Turner, Constable, Gainsborough, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Bridget Riley. The Clore Gallery, devoted to J.M.W. Turner’s works, is a reason to visit in itself. Turner is one of the most important figures in British art history and a pioneer whose use of light inspired the Impressionists. The prestigious Turner Prize, awarded annually, is also exhibited in this museum. While Tate Modern is contemporary and international, Tate Britain is local and historical; together they show both the roots and the present of British art.

Tate Britain is itself a work of art; the neoclassical building greets you with its high dome and decorative ceilings the moment you step inside. One of the works that stopped me was Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s A Favourite Custom (1909). A Victorian-era British painter, Alma-Tadema is known for depicting ancient Roman life with extraordinary detail. The clarity of the water in the Roman bath, the women rendered with astonishing realism; the colour tones of the marble textures, the naturalness of the figures leave you mesmerised. Another work is The Cholmondeley Ladies (1600-10) by an unknown artist. Two women born on the same day, married on the same day and who gave birth on the same day, painted alongside their babies. At first glance they look like exact copies of each other, but the lace details, jewellery and eye colours differ.

Bonus: Tate Modern

Tate Modern falls slightly outside the scope of the list above in terms of the period it covers; it tells the story of modern and contemporary art. Born from the conversion of the former Bankside Power Station into a museum in 2000, Tate Modern is an experience in itself just for its building. This massive industrial structure standing on the banks of the Thames, opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, is London’s centre of contemporary art with a collection spanning from the 1900s to the present day. Picasso, Dalí, Warhol, Rothko, Pollock, Hockney, Ai Weiwei are all here. While Tate Britain tells the story of British art’s roots, Tate Modern keeps its finger on the pulse of international contemporary art.

London’s museum world is of course not limited to these five museums. More niche and independent spaces like the Wallace Collection and Saatchi Gallery, where you would want to spend minutes studying each individual work, are a subject for a separate piece. But first, these museums that hold an important place in world art history and welcome millions of art lovers with their permanent collections need to be properly understood and absorbed.