London is a modern Mecca for those who love art as the city literally brimming with all sorts of artistic venues and art galleries, each and every of which is housed in fashionable building which is a masterpiece in itself. Some astounding places like the internationally famed Trafalgar Square with its National Gallery housing more than 2 thousand exhibits which range from the artworks of the early Renaiisance period to more recent art pieces by Impressionists. Collected by  John Julius Angerstein in the early XIX century, the collection of masterpieces of international value had been inherited by the British Government back in 1824. Ever since 1838 the collection has been housed in a miraculously fashionable building at Trafalgar square. The list of gems of The National Gallery features masterpieces of such internationally recognized great artists of the past as Leonardo da Vinci (Virgin and Child with St Anne and John the Baptist), Monet (Bathers at La Grenouillière), Botticelli (Mystic Nativity) and Diego Velázquez (Rokeby Venus). There is simply much more to see in The National Gallery than can be possibly seen during a brief visit to the museum and see the above mentioned artists as well as Vermeer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and a great multitude of others.

An outstanding collection of portraits depicting famous people of the British history, influential or historical persons, is housed in the marvelous National Portrait Gallery in St. Martin's Place. The Gallery first opened its doors in 1856. The scope of artists presented in the Gallery ranges from painters of the early Tudor period to the photography of the present-day. The list of persons who had seated for the portraits collected in the Gallery features the monarchs of all the British dynasties, starting with Richard II and finishing with Elizabeth II. The gallery organizes thematic exhibits and the entire collection is never shown to the public. Nevertheless, tourists are much attracted by the Gallery's great shows featuring the exhibition of such legendary persons like William Shakespeare or Lord Byron, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen), and Henry VIII. Some other persons portrayed in the pictures of The National Portrait Gallery includes the famed commodore Horatio Nelson, the Brontë sisters, one of the first feminists Germaine Greer and the incoercible prime-minister lady Margaret Thatcher.

The Tate Modern is a perfect place for massive artworks thanks to its ultimately enormous housing: the gallery is accommodated in the Bankside Power Station. The building of the Station was converted into the Tate Modern art gallery as we know it now and arranged to  exhibit some world's precious items by Rodin, Picasso, Dali and Matisse in 88 galleries. Much disputed works by present-day artists are the hit of the Tate Modern as well, the extremely famed Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe series under the title of Marilyn Dyptich. A vast number of modern art pieces like Pop Art urinal Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, the innovative Light Red over Black by Rothko, Summertime No. 9A by Jackson Pollock known for his extravagant technique of pouring paint directly to the canvases, the so-called Action Painting, and Forms Without Life by David Hirst.

Another superb art gallery of London is located in the Millbank district, and it is much famed Tate Britain. The history of this gallery goes back to 1897 when it was opened by henry Tate whose name it inherited to become a home to many important pieces of the indigenous British art.  The oldest masterpieces of the gallery are dated as early as 1500. The Tate group often shifts its artworks between its galleries, therefore it is nigh impossible to see the entire collection gathered in one place; nevertheless, the gallery offers its visitors marvelous exhibitions to explore. In The Tate Britain tourists can enjoy watching at some masterpieces by William Turner (Norham Castle and Sunrise), John Sargent (Carnation, Lily, Rose), William Blake and numerous works by Francis Bacon, including Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.

The last but not the least, The Courtauld Gallery is housed in the North Block of Somerset House on the much famed Strand. The span of this gallery embraces many styles and epochs of the world art, and its vast collection is really some sight. The gallery was opened in 1932, and the majority of its exhibits was collected by textile millionaire Samuel Courtauld the focus around Impressionists and Post-Impresionists. Gaugin?s and Fra Angelico?s works are on display in The Courtauld Gallery as well as Self Portrait with bandaged ear by Van Gough and Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Manet. This one-of-the-kind collection represents a history of the European art and a visit to this gallery is worth visiting a few others.