FROM THE PUBLISHER

This richly illustrated little volume surveys British painting, watercolors, and sculpture from the sixteenth century to the present.

With masters such as William Blake, William Hogarth, George Stubbs, Thomas Gainsborough, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and David Hockney, the Tate Gallery offers work to please every taste. The gallery, which was opened in London in the summer of 1897 by the Prince of Wales, is best known for its modern art collections, but-as this little compendium makes wonderfully clear-it encompasses the full sweep of British art, from ornate aristocratic portraits and vivacious hunting scenes to the Pre-Raphaelites' languid femmes fatales.

Other Details: 280 full-color illustrations 320 pages 4 x 4" Published 1998

purpose by the endowment of the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey. The works in the gallery from this variety of sources were predominantly nineteenth century.

Since 1897 the original building has been much added to, as have the collections. Henry Tate paid for an extension that was completed in 1899, and subsequent additions were funded by the art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen and his son. Throughout the twentieth century the collections have expanded in scope and increased in size, and the Tate now holds important collections of work by British masters of all periods.

The largest group of works by a single artist is by Joseph Mallord William Turner-nearly three hundred oils and several thousand drawings and watercolours. These were accepted by the nation from the artist's estate and are now housed in the purpose-built Clore Gallery, which opened in 1987 through the generous funding of the Clore Foundation. For the first time a fully representative selection of Turner's work in all media and all periods can be seen under a single roof, and this is a popular attraction for visitors.

In recent years twentieth-century British works have also been shown in the regional galleries that the Tate has opened in Liverpool and St. Ives. In addition, the new policy of rehanging the collections in London each year has allowed the Tate to show a far greater range of its rich holdings, since the current space allows only a fifth of the collection to be exhibited at Millbank at any one time.

This book offers only a taste of the great variety of masterpieces of British art of all periods that can be seen at the Tate. It has been extremely hard to limit the number of artists and pictures included here, and many have been left out who in a fuller history should take their rightful place beside their peers.