Tate Modern

Tate is a family of art galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall, known as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate St Ives and Tate Liverpool + RIBA North. Tate houses collections of British art from 1500 to the present day and international modern art

When Tate first opened to the public in 1897, it had just one site, showcasing a small selection of British art. Today, we have four major sites and collections of British art from 1500 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art, including nearly 70,000 works of art.

In 1889, Henry Tate, an industrialist who made his fortune from sugar refineries, donated his collection of British 19th-century art to the nation and provided funding for the first Tate Gallery.

Tate, a great patron of Pre-Raphaelite artists, bequeathed 65 paintings to the National Gallery, including John Everett Millais’ Ophelia 1851-2 and JW Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott 1888. The bequest was rejected by the trustees as there were not enough paintings. space in the gallery.

A campaign began to create a new gallery dedicated to British art. With the help of an £80,000 donation from Tate himself, the Millbank Gallery (now known as Tate Britain) was built and opened in 1897. The works originally bequeathed by Tate form the founding collection alongside those in the National Gallery.

Over the years there has been much debate about Henry Tate’s relationship to slavery. As we reflect on this important question, we asked historical researchers at the UK Slavery Legacy Research Centre at University College London to share their analysis. We worked with them to produce a statement of what we know to be the historical facts and some of the unanswered questions.