Guildhall Art Gallery

Frommer's Review

In 1999, Queen Elizabeth opened a new £70-million ($130-million) gallery in the City, a continuation of an original gallery that was launched in 1886 but burned down in a severe air raid in May 1941. Many famous and much-loved pictures, which for years were known only through temporary exhibitions and reproductions, are again available for the public to see in a permanent setting. The new gallery can display only 250 of the 4,000 treasures it owns. The art ranges from classical to modern. A curiosity is the huge double-height wall built to accommodate Britain's largest independent oil painting, John Singleton Copley's The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782. The Corporation of London in the City owns these works and has been collecting them since the 17th century. The most popular art is in the Victorian collection, including such well-known favorites as Millais's My First Sermon and My Second Sermon, and Landseer's The First Leap. There is also a landscape of Salisbury Cathedral by John Constable. Since World War II, all paintings acquired by the gallery concentrate on London subjects.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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