LONDON'S BEST ART GALLERIES

AG
Apr 22
3 min read

Updated: Apr 28

The Capital's Top Art Galleries, as Nominated by YOU In the Time Well Spent Awards

There are more than 800 galleries in London - but which are Londoner's favourite places to treat their eyeballs?

Our readers have nominated their top London galleries for this year's Time Well Spent Awards, below.

The ultimate winner will be crowned in August.

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Tate Modern

This free, gargantuan and brilliant gallery presides over Bankside and is one of the world's most popular modern art galleries.

Unlike its more traditional sister, Tate Britain, this museum only shows modern art, dating as far back as 1900, with huge, specially commissioned installations in its enormous Turbine Hall and a gaggle of mind-bending displays bursting within its Blavatnik and Natalie Bell buildings, as well as a series of events and special blockbuster shows, like its must-see Leigh Bowery! show, on now.

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Saatchi Gallery

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Saatchi Gallery has been nominated by many of you for its innovative and exciting contemporary art exhibitions, showcasing the work of emerging artists. It's celebrated for introducing artists who would later gain worldwide recognition, like Jenny Saville, Gavin Turk, and Jake and Dinos Chapman.

Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Rd, London SW3 4RY

Royal Academy of Arts

Art has been created, celebrated and debated for 250 years at the RA, which has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by Royal Academicians, artists and architects elected by their peers. It is home to Britain's longest established art school, and every year since 1768, it has held an annual Summer Exhibition, the largest open-submission art exhibition in the world.

RA, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD

Hayward Gallery

This world-renowned contemporary art gallery and landmark of brutalist architecture is top of your lists, for eschewing permanent collections and instead, hosting three or four major temporary exhibitions of modern or contemporary artworks each year. Recent highlights have included 2024's undulating, cascading, erupting and dancing exhibition, When Forms Come Alive featuring works by 21 international artists.

Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX

Serpentine

This unique, free gallery in Kensington Gardens has presented pioneering contemporary art since 1970. From the Pavilion to their exhibitions, they champion new ideas in art and architecture.

Serpentine hosts a free programme of exhibitions, architecture, education, and live events across their Galleries and online.

Serpentine North, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA

Serpentine South, West Carriage Drive, London W2 2AR

National Portrait Gallery

When it opened in 1856, it was the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits.

It now houses the world’s greatest collection of portraits, spanning six centuries - from global icons to local champions, national treasures to unsung heroes - telling the story of Britain through portraits, using art to bring history to life and explore living today

National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE

The Wallace Collection

This beautiful museum houses masterpieces of painting, sculpture, furniture, arms, armour, and porcelain.

Built over the 18th and 19th centuries by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, it is one of the most celebrated collections in the world and was given to Britain in 1897 by Lady Wallace, so that it could be kept together and enjoyed by generations of visitors.

The museum hosts a wide range of shows, including its current must-see, Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur.

The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, W1U 3BN

Whitechapel Gallery

Opened in 1901 as one of the first publicly funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London, founded to make contemporary art accessible and exciting to the widest possible audiences through a bold and radical programme.

They are particularly committed to showing under-represented, under-served artists, especially women and people of colour, and to present provocative artworks that expand thinking around the key socio-political concerns of our time.

Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St London E1 7QX

White Cube

Representing a roll call of of Britain's biggest arftists, from Damien Hirst to Tracey Emin, this radical contemporary art gallery has branches in Bermondsey and Mason's Yard - as well as multiple galleries around the world, from Hong Kong and Paris, to New York and Seoul.

It's a huge hit with our readers, who nominated it for it's high profile, large scale and diverse exhibitions.

White Cube, 144-152, Bermondsey St, London SE1 3TQ

White Cube, 25-26 Masons Yard, London SW1Y 6BU