The Tate Gallery

The idea of the Tate Gallery took shape in 1890. In that year Henry Tate's gift of sixty-five paintings and two sculptures, almost all of them the work of Victorian contemporaries, was offered to the nation, but a gallery had still to be built to house them. When opened seven years later the Tate Gallery consisted of eight rooms and was intended as a collection of contemporary British Painting only.

In the intervening years the scope of the collection has been transformed as well as enlarged. Instead of being a collection of nineteenth century British painting it has become the national collection of British painting of all periods, and in addition to this the national collection of modern foreign painting and of modern sculpture, both British and foreign. In scale the collection has grown beyound recognition. Instead of seventy works the col­lection contains nearly four thousand British paintings and drawing¹ over three hundred modern foreign paintings, and over three hundred and sixty pieces of modern sculpture.

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

Active Vocabulary:

a gift - дар, подарок

to house - поселить; помещать; вмещаться, помещаться

to be housed in - размещаться

to consist of - состоять из

to be intended - предназначаться

as well as - также

instead of — вместо

in addition to - вдобавок, в дополнение к, кроме того, к тому же

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both... and - и... и; как... так и

beyond recognition - до неузнаваемости

impressive - впечатляющий, внушительный

to include - включать

Answer the Questions:

1. What did the Tate Gallery begin with?

2. When was it opened?

3. What was it intended for at first?

4. When did the gallery become the national collection of British painting of all periods?

5. How many pieces of art does the gallery contain at present?

6. Has the growth of the building been impressive?

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