#tatebritain — Public Fediverse posts

The Guardian view on a new director at Tate: an old institution must tackle fresh issues | Editorial
By Editorial

A decline in visitor numbers, staff strikes and budget cuts – Jessica Morgan faces many challenges as she takes on the biggest role in the British arts scene

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/26/the-guardian-view-on-a-new-director-at-tate-an-old-institution-must-tackle-fresh-issues

#TateModern #TateBritain #Art #Artsfunding #Exhibitions #London #TateLiverpool #TateStIves #TheGuardian #Editorial

‘It was the moment I lost innocence’: how a childhood stop-and-search led to the British debut movie of the year
By Cath Clarke

When Imran Perretta was young, he was abruptly pulled by police into a van for questioning. That experience, as well as the death of his mother, inspired him to make Ish, a coming-of-age tale set amongst the British Muslim community. He talks about trauma, designing toilets and making Luton look magnificent

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/24/imran-perretta-interview-ish-british-debut-movie-of-the-year

#Film #Culture #TateBritain #DerekJarman #TheGuardian #CathClarke

Tate desperately needs a radical overhaul – but will its new director really be an agent of change?
By Jonathan Jones

From over-hyped shows to the woeful Turner prize, this huge institution has been beset by problems – yet new boss Jessica Morgan seems too much like a safe pair of hands to shake things up • Jessica Morgan named new Tate director

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jul/22/tate-new-director-london-jessica-morgan

#Artanddesign #TateBritain #Art #Culture #TateLiverpool #TateModern #TateStIves #London #UKnews #TheGuardian #JonathanJones

Jessica Morgan named new Tate director – with ‘big pay cut‘ to take job
By Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

Clear frontrunner leaves lucrative role at New York’s Dia Art Foundation to join UK arts organisation at critical juncture

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jul/22/jessica-morgan-named-new-tate-director-pay-cut

#Art #TateModern #TateLiverpool #TateStIves #TateBritain #UKnews #FridaKahlo #Culture #Artanddesign #TheGuardian #LanreBakareArts #culturecorrespondent

Whistler at Tate Britain

Back to the hotel for a short siesta after spending most of the day at Tate Britain, where there is a special exhibition of works by and about James McNeill Whistler. The main collection at Tate Britain is free, but the Whistler exhibition costs £24 to see. It’s well worth it though.

The first picture shows Whistler’s famous portrait of his mother, who seems to be holding court. My favourite pieces, however, the Nocturnes, two of which I have mentioned on this blog before. There are three shown below, but photographs don’t do them justice at all. The appearance of the paint when seen close up is quite remarkable, a sort of translucent quality to it even when the picture is very dark. Whistler was one of the first artists to really master painting in the dark without using moonlight or other obvious illumination.

The last of these is particularly interesting to me. When the great American songwriter Billy Strayhorn saw the beautifully evocative painting (above) of one of the bridges over the River Thames, it inspired him to write an equally evocative song to be performed by his longstanding musical collaborator and friend Duke Ellington. The song was written in 1941, but it was only years later that he realized that he had named it after the wrong bridge. The painting was of Battersea Bridge; but he had named the song  Chelsea Bridge, a much less romantic location. Chelsea Bridge is an intriguing tune, based on minor sixth chords voiced via their third inversions, it sounds almost atonal but very evocative, just like the painting.

In one of the video segments played during the exhibition we hear the actor Anton Lesser quoting Whistler with words the effect that he saw colours like notes on a keyboard; he started naming his paintings after musical works, e.g. “Symphony in White” before he got to his masterpieces, the Nocturnes.

I wrote about another of the Nocturnes here. Nocturne in Black and Gold, in the same series as the third picture above, is famous for having been at the centre of a libel case. The influential art critic John Ruskin hated it and accused Whistler of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face”. Whistler sued for damages (though he couldn’t really afford to). He won the case against Ruskin, but the outcome was financially disastrous for him because he was awarded only one farthing in damages and was bankrupted.

Tate Britain has an extensive permanent collection of primarily English art from about 1600 onwards, not least a huge collection of works by J.M.W. Turner. It’s fascinating to see so many of these together, charting this extraordinary artist’s evolution from brilliant if conventional upstart to pioneering impressionist. Along the way Turner’s interest in conventional themes began to wane in favour of the interplay between sea and clouds, to the extent that his works began to look like abstracts. There is in my mind a strong influence on Whistler. This one, ostensibly a seascape with a distant shore, reminds me of Rothko.

Whistler's Mother seems to be holding court...

#TateBritain

Tate Britain previews new garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show – The Art Newspaper https://www.allforgardening.com/1776666/tate-britain-previews-new-garden-at-rhs-chelsea-flower-show-the-art-newspaper/ #AlexFarquharson #BarbaraHepworth #Exhibitions #garden #gardener #gardening #gardens #TateBritain

Most famous image of JMW Turner not a self-portrait, says expert https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/may/14/most-famous-image-turner-not-self-portrait-says-expert #JmwTurner #Art #Painting #ArtAndDesign #Culture #TateBritain #England #UkNews

📰 Today's top stories, personally curated for you by Zorz Studios: http://zorz.it/newspaper

- #Hasselblad unveils the 70 exceptional #HasselbladMasters2026 finalists;
- 5 creative group #ideas for successful #TeamBuilding;
- This #WoodlandWedding blurred the line between fantasy and reality;
- #Chanel stages a #MetGala curtain raiser;
- British ’90s #art and fashion #exhibition heading to #TateBritain in fall 2026, and more

#ZoracleDaily #newspaper

Back to the 90s: Tate exhibition will explore decade’s art and fashion https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/apr/27/tate-britain-90s-art-fashion-culture-edward-enninful #Culture #TateBritain #Art #Society #UkNews

Two Tates, one Hockney: Artist to headline major 2027 exhibition season

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/two-tates-one-hockney-artist-to-headline-major-2027-exhibition-season-88296/

Tate Modern Turbine Hall to showcase David Hockney opera sets https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/mar/16/tate-modern-turbine-hall-david-hockney-opera-sets #TateModern #TateBritain #Art #ArtAndDesign #Culture #DavidHockney #UkNews

This one gives me the shivers.

JMW Turner, Dolbadern Castle, North Wales

exhibited 1800

Here Turner is imagining an event from Welsh history. Kneeling in the foreground is 'hopeless Owen', imprisoned in 1255 at Dolbadern Castle for joining a rebellion against his brother. Turner sets Dolbadern's tower against the most luminous area of sky, a trick borrowed from Dutch masters.

#art #tate #TateBritain

Take a look at Simon Cooke's five star review of ‘Turner and Constable, Rivals and Originals’ at Tate Britain — and think again about the differences between these two great landscape painters! https://victorianweb.org/painting/reviews/turner&constable.html #painting #TateBritain

Tate Britain, featuring Chris Ofili's REQUIEM which pays tribute to Khadija Saye and remembers the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire

#Museums #PhotographersOfMastodon #Art #London #TateBritain

Personal details of Tate galleries job applicants leaked online https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/14/personal-details-of-tate-galleries-job-applicants-leaked-online #Dataandcomputersecurity #Informationcommissioner #Dataprotection #Work&careers #TateBritain #Jobhunting #TateModern #Technology #UKnews

Personal details of Tate galleries job applicants leaked online https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/14/personal-details-of-tate-galleries-job-applicants-leaked-online #Dataandcomputersecurity #Informationcommissioner #Dataprotection #Work&careers #TateBritain #Jobhunting #TateModern #UKnews

@wigbert Hearing the StIves #IthellColquhoun show has come to #TateBritain in London, I'm wishing the same would happen with wonderful #PauleVezelay exhibition work we saw in Bristol earlier this year #Womenartists

Tate Britain central hallway in black and white

#picoftheday #photooftheday #pictureoftheday #photographoftheday #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephoto #blackandwhitephotography #mono #monochrome #TateBritain