Tate holds the National Collection of British art from 1500 and international modern and contemporary art from 1900. Tate's Collection embraces all media from painting, drawing, sculpture and prints, to photography, video and film, installation and performance.
The Collection is displayed at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives and through loans to temporary national and international exhibitions and long loans. Tate rotates its displays at all sites, partly with the aim of giving exposure to as much of the Collection as possible.
Works on paper can be viewed by appointment in the Prints and Drawings Rooms at Tate Britain, which also houses the Turner Bequest.
Tate also houses the National Archive of British Art from 1900, Tate's institutional records including material relating to the Collection, and the Tate Library. The Tate Archive contains manuscripts, notebooks, sketches, prints, documentation and supporting material. The Archive and Library are accessible through the Tate Library and Archive Collections: Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms at Tate Britain.
Tate's Collection seeks to represent significant developments in art in all areas covered by its remit with artworks of outstanding quality and importance. The representation of British art encompasses work by artists defined by their contribution to its history and development rather than simply by nationality.
While it has traditionally focused on art from Western Europe and North America, Tate seeks to represent international modern and contemporary art from a global perspective and has recently expanded its holdings of work from Latin America, South-East Asia and Eastern Europe.
When the Tate Gallery opened in 1897, its Collection consisted of the 65 works gifted by Henry Tate to the Nation.
