Page 123 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

C OVENT GARDEN AND THE STR AND  121

r Somerset House home to
the Courtauld
Strand WC2. Map 14 D2. Tel 020 7845
4600. 1 Temple. Gallery & House Institute of Art
Open 10am–6pm daily (last adm to and its Gallery.
galleries 5:30pm). Closed 1 Jan, 24– The courtyard of
26 Dec. 8 free guided tours Tue, Thu Somerset House
and Sat. Ice rink: Open 2 months in was closed to
winter. & call 0844 847 1520 for the public for
tickets. - ∑ somersethouse.org.uk nearly a century,
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery: but on the Inland
Tel 020 7848 2777. & - = 7 Revenue’s
∑ courtauld.ac.uk Embankment departure in
Galleries: & 7 Tom’s Kitchen: 1997 it was
Tel 020 7845 4646. rejuvenated, as
part of a £48-
This elegant Georgian building million scheme.
was the creation of Sir William This created
Chambers. It was erected in the an attractive
1770s after the first Somerset piazza with a Fountains at Somerset House
House, a Renaissance palace 55-jet fountain.
built for the Duke of Somerset Films and concerts Located in Somerset House,
in the mid-16th century, was are often staged here in the but famous in its own right, is
pulled down following years summer, and for a few weeks in the spectacular Courtauld
of neglect. The replacement winter, there is an enchanting Gallery. Its exquisite collection
was the first major building to ice rink. From the courtyard, of paintings has been
be designed for use as govern- visitors can stroll through the displayed here since 1990
ment offices and has served to South Building, where the and owes its existence to the
house the Navy Board (note highly regarded Tom’s Kitchen bequest of textile magnate
that the classical grandeur of restaurant over looks the Thames, and philanthropist Samuel
the Seamen’s Waiting Hall and on to a riverside terrace that Courtauld, one of the founders
Nelson’s Staircase are not to be includes an open-air summer of the Art Institute. On display
missed), a succession of Royal café and a restaurant, with are works by Botticelli, Bruegel,
Societies and, for a long time, pedestrian access to Waterloo Bellini and Rubens (including
the Inland Revenue. Today it is Bridge and the South Bank. one of his early masterpieces,
The Descent from the Cross), but
it is the Courtauld’s collection
of Impressionist and Post-
Impressionist paintings that
draws the most attention.
As well as works by Monet,
Gauguin, Pissarro, Renoir and
Modigliani, visitors can view
Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-
Bergères, Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait
with Bandaged Ear, Cézanne’s
The Card Players and some
evocative studies of dancers
by Degas. In addition to its
permanent collection, the
Courtauld Institute hosts a
series of world-class temporary
exhibitions that take place
throughout the year.
Also worth visiting are
the modern, riverside
Embankment Galleries
occupying 750 square metres
of exhibition space on the
two lower floors of the south
wing. The changing exhibition
programme covers a broad
range of contemporary arts,
including photography, design,
Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) at the Courtauld fashion and architecture.

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