Tate Gallery

Art museum in London housing the national collection of British painting and sculpture and of modern British and European art since c. 1870. It is named after Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899), a sugar refiner and inventor of the sugar cube, who donated his collection of Victorian art to the nation in 1890. The Neoclassical building, designed by Sidney R. J. Smith, opened in 1897. Originally administered by the National Gallery, the museum became completely independent only in 1954. In 1987 the Clore Gallery was built to house the principal collection of J.M.W. Turner's works. In 1988 a branch was opened in Liverpool. The Tate Modern, a converted power plant housing the modern collections, opened in 2000.

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