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made for Louis XV's bedroom at Versailles in 1739 and the secretaries made for Queen Marie-Antoinette by the leading cabinet-maker of the period, Riesener. Among the best loved objects in the entire Collection are the many beautiful clocks including a gilt-bronze musical clock which plays thirteen different tunes. At Hertford House you can see the finest museum collection of Sevres in the world, including exquisite pieces once owned by Louis XV and his mistress Madame de Pompadour.

The Wallace Collection is particularly strong in finely decorated pieces of armour for parade, tournament and use in the field, and in the series of sixteenth and seventeenth-century swords.

The Wallace Collection is a five-minute‟s walk from Bond Street underground station and Oxford Street. The admission is free.

2. Explain what the Wallace Collection is famous for. Which exhibits of this Collection would you like to see?

III. Reading and Speaking.

1.Read the text below and say which of the art galleries in Britain mentioned in the text you have heard of before.

2.Scan the text and say which art galleries in or outside London house the following pieces of art:

old master paintings;

modern art;

both old and modern masters;

portraits of figures of British history;

pieces of art restricted thematically, by schools of painting or by the time periods.

Public and private - an unparalleled national treasure

There is a commonly held belief that Britain's best art galleries are all in London. They are not.

Given the importance of the great London galleries, and the existence in and around London of other major collections on view to the public, it is easy to imagine that the whole of Britain's national art heritage is to be found within twenty miles of the Houses of Parliament.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The great national collections in London - the National Gallery, the Tate, the Tate Modern, and others, are just the icing on the cake.

Even London has smaller top-quality art galleries, that might be given far more prominence if they were located in some other European or American

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to bequeath paintings

the lighting artwork incorporated in the pier's structure charities and subsidiaries

the launch of Tate Modern entrepreneurial

a classical portico and dome accountable to the public via Parliament eschew

pivotal moments extended opening hours

Group A.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY

The National Gallery is located at: Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N

5DN.

Its Opening hours are: Daily 10am – 6pm, Friday 10am – 9pm. The Gallery is closed on the 1st of January and 24-26 December.

The National Gallery houses one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world. These pictures belong to the public and the entrance to see them is free except for special exhibitions.

The National Gallery is governed by the Museum and Galleries Act 1992, under which it has charitable status but is exempt from the need to register with the Charity Commission.

The Gallery is governed by a Board of Trustees, who are appointed by the Prime Minister. The Director and Executive Committee represent the departments, covering all aspects of the Gallery's work. The Gallery is a nondepartmental public body, whose sponsor body is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Director of the National Gallery is also the Accounting Officer appointed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Gallery's aim is to care for the collection, to enhance it for future generations, primarily by acquisition, and to study it, while encouraging access to the pictures for the education and enjoyment of the widest possible public now and in the future.

The National Gallery has a number of objectives laid out under its constitution:

1.Care for the collection.

2.Enhance the collection.

3.Study the collection

The first paintings in the National Gallery collection came from the banker and collector John Julius Angerstein. They consisted of Italian works, including a large altarpiece by Sebastiano del Piombo, “The Raising of Lazarus”, and fine examples of the Dutch, Flemish and English Schools.

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In 1823 the landscape painter and art collector, Sir George Beaumont (1753 – 1827), promised his collection of pictures to the nation, on the condition that suitable accommodation could be provided for their display and conservation.

The gift of the pictures was made in 1826. They went on display alongside Angerstein's pictures in 100 Pall Mall, Angerstein's house, until the whole collection was moved to Trafalgar Square in 1838.

In 1831 Parliament agreed to construct a building for the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. There had been lengthy discussion about the best site for the Gallery, and Trafalgar Square was eventually chosen as it was considered to be at the very centre of London. The new building finally opened in 1838.

With a commitment to free admission, a central and accessible site, and extended opening hours the Gallery has ensured that its collection can be enjoyed by the widest public possible, and not become the exclusive preserve of the privileged. From the outset the National Gallery has been committed to education. Students have always been admitted to the Gallery to study the collection, and to make copies of the pictures.

The National Gallery stands on the former site of the King's Mews. The Gallery's architect, William Wilkins, used many of the construction methods of the Mews building when he built the National Gallery.

The Royal Academy of Arts was also housed in the new National Gallery building at Trafalgar Square. In 1869, the Royal Academy moved into its own new building in Piccadilly, leaving extra space for the National Gallery.

There was a lot of public criticism of the National Gallery's building and in 1869 the architect E.M. Barry was asked to submit designs for rebuilding the entire Gallery at Trafalgar Square.

After much discussion, it was decided that the existing building should remain, and a new wing should be added. This was completed in 1876, and added seven new exhibition rooms at the east end, including the impressive dome.

The Trustees had to battle for a long time to secure expansion space for the National Gallery. The site in central London was very constrained. Eventually, in 1907, barracks at the rear of the Gallery were cleared and work began to construct five new galleries.

In 1985 Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover and his brothers The Hon. Simon Sainsbury and Sir Timothy Sainsbury generously agreed to finance the construction of a new wing for the Gallery.

A site next to the Gallery had been vacant since the Second World War, when a furniture shop was destroyed by bombing. The new Sainsbury Wing was opened in 1991, to display the entire early Renaissance collection

This followed on from the Northern Extension, which opened in 1975, providing considerable extra exhibition space: nine large rooms and three

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smaller 'cabinet' rooms. These new galleries made use of natural lighting as far as possible.

Initially, the Gallery had no formal collection policy, and new pictures were acquired according to the personal tastes of the Trustees. By the 1850s the Trustees were being criticised for neglecting to purchase works of the earlier Italian Schools, then known as the Primitives.

Following the reform of Gallery administration in 1855, the new Director travelled throughout Europe to purchase works for the Gallery. In the 10 years that he was Director, Sir Charles Eastlake ensured that the Gallery's collection of Italian painting expanded and widened in scope to become one of the best in the world. Eastlake's purchases included Botticelli's “Adoration of the Kings” and Uccello's, “The Battle of San Romano”.

From the very beginning, the National Gallery's collection had included works by British artists. By the mid-1840s, the rooms of the National Gallery had become overcrowded.

When Robert Vernon presented a large gift of British works to the Gallery in 1847, they had to be displayed elsewhere: first at Vernon's private house, and later at Marlborough House.

Not long afterwards, the artist Joseph Mallord William Turner bequeathed over 1000 paintings, drawings and watercolours. When they came into the collection in 1856, they had to be displayed at South Kensington, along with the Vernon collection, which was moved from Marlborough House.

In 1876 the National Gallery was enlarged, and the paintings were returned to Trafalgar Square. However, by this time a precedent had been set for exhibiting British works in separate premises.

In 1889 the wealthy industrialist, Henry Tate, offered his collection to the nation. He subsequently offered to fund the construction of a separate Gallery for British works of art. After lengthy negotiations, a site was selected a mile away from Trafalgar Square, at Millbank, and the Gallery opened in 1897.

The new gallery was officially known the National Gallery of British Art, changing its name to the National Gallery, Millbank in 1917. However, it soon became known as the Tate Gallery. The majority of the British pictures were transferred to the Tate Gallery, and only a selection of works remained at Trafalgar Square.

At first, the Tate Gallery was under the administration of the National Gallery. In 1955 the Tate was formally established as an independent institution.

Now The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

The National Gallery Collection contains over 2,300 works, including many famous works, such as van Eyck‟s “Arnolfini Portrait”, Velázquez‟s “Rokeby Venus”, Turner‟s “Fighting Temeraire” and Van Gogh‟s “Sunflowers”.

All major traditions of Western European painting are represented from the artists of late medieval and Renaissance Italy to the French Impressionists.

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13thto 15th-century paintings: Duccio, Uccello, van Eyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli, Dürer, Memling, Bellini.

16th-century paintings: Leonardo, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Holbein, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titian, Veronese.

17th-century paintings: Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Claude, Rembrandt, Cuyp, Vermeer.

18thto early 20th-century paintings: Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Ingres, Degas, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh.

(From: www.nationalgallery.org.uk)

Group B.

Tate Britain

Millbank, London SW1P 4RG, United Kingdom.

Tate Britain (known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery) is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, having opened in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.

Tate Britain and Tate Modern are now connected by a high speed boat along the River Thames, which runs from Millbank Millennium Pier immediately outside Tate Britain. The boat is decorated with spots, based on paintings of similar appearance by Damien Hirst. The lighting artwork incorporated in the pier's structure is byAngela Bulloch.

Admission to Tate Britain is free, except for special exhibitions. Opening times: 10.00–18.00 daily.

Tate is governed by a Board of Trustees that oversee a series of Sub Committees and Advisory Councils. Tate also has a number of connected charities and subsidiaries. The Sub Committees help to advise the Board on specific areas of Tate‟s operations. The day-to-day operations of Tate are managed by the Director, who is accountable to the Board of Trustees. The Director is appointed by the Board with the approval of the Prime Minister, as set out in the Museums and Galleries Act 1992. The Director of Tate is also the Accounting Officer appointed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Operating under the Museums and Galleries Act 1992, Tate employs its own staff and is responsible for its own expenditure. Tate is an exempt charity that receives some of its funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Tate supplements the grant it receives from the DCMS through other sources, including trading, admissions to temporary exhibitions and to Tate St Ives, and sponsorship. Around 60% of our income is raised from nongovernment sources.

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While the purpose of Tate doesn‟t change, the context and the way it fulfills its mission does. It brings a contemporary perspective to all it does, inviting debate and exchange centred on art.

Over the years Tate has been successful in getting more and more people to enjoy art in new ways. As artistic practice evolves and new technology changes the ways the audiences interact with the gallery, more people than ever before can enjoy art from the collection and beyond.

Tate‟s Vision is to be more:

-Open by being receptive to new ideas, encouraging debate, exchange and collaboration within and beyond Tate, and by being more inviting to all people.

-Diverse by presenting a range of different views, voices and perspectives across our programme and activities, and being more reflective of the diversity of Britain and the world.

-International by connecting the UK to the world, and the world to the UK through Tate‟s programmes and collection.

-Entrepreneurial by seeking new partnerships, examining new trends and leading and stimulating debate.

-Sustainable by being financially sustainable, ensuring that scholarship and research are part of the fabric of our activities, and demonstrating leadership in response to climate change.

The original Tate Gallery at Millbank opened in 1897. Since then Tate has undergone a remarkable transformation, growing to become a major, inclusive institution and one of the world‟s leading art brands.

The gallery is situated on Millbank, on the site of the former Millbank Prison. Construction, undertaken by Higgs and Hill, commenced in 1893, and the gallery opened on 21 July 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art. However, from the start it was commonly known as the Tate Gallery, after its founder Sir Henry Tate, and in 1932 it officially adopted that name.

Before 2000, the gallery housed and displayed both British and modern collections, but the launch of Tate Modern saw Tate's modern collections move there, while the old Millbank gallery became dedicated to the display of historical and contemporary British art. As a consequence, it was renamed Tate Britain in March 2000.

The front part of the building was designed by Sidney R. J. Smith with a classical portico and dome behind, and the central sculpture gallery was designed by John Russell Pope. Tate Britain includes the Clore Gallery of 1987, designed by James Stirling, which houses work by J. M. W. Turner. The Clore Gallery has been regarded as an important example of Postmodern architecture, especially in the use of contextual irony: each section of the external facade quotes liberally from the building next to it in regard to materials and detailing.

Crises during its existence include flood damage to work from the River Thames, and bomb damage during World War II. However, most of the

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