3+3+London: Courtauld Gallery
Operating Hours:Daily: 10:00 - 18:00. Closed: 25 - 26 December
The Vibe:Impressionist masterpieces in Georgian elegance.
One of Britain's finest small art galleries occupies a wing of Somerset House on the Strand. Its tight focus — Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère, Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, Gauguin's Tahitian scenes — rewards unhurried visits.
Footsteps echo on parquet floors; the compact scale means masterpieces sit side by side. Natural light falls through Georgian sash windows; Renaissance gold grounds glow in the dimmer early rooms.
- • One of the world's finest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art
- • Houses Manet's 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' and Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear'
- • Reopened in 2021 after a £57 million refurbishment
- • Part of the Courtauld Institute, a world-leading art-history research body
Persona Fit
- 👨👩👧 Families: Compact enough to engage older children without fatigue
- 💕 Couples: Intimate scale makes it an ideal gallery date
- 👵 Seniors: Full lift access; brief visit avoids big-museum fatigue
- 📸 Photographers: Georgian window light on the Impressionist rooms
Highlights
- Manet's 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' — the artist's final masterpiece, 1882
- Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear' — painted after the famous Arles incident
- Gauguin's 'Nevermore' — Tahitian scene from the artist's Pacific years
- Cézanne's 'The Card Players' — one of the series' most celebrated versions
- Renaissance gold-ground panels — little-visited but exquisite
- Samuel Courtauld's drawings collection — shown in rotation — Hidden Gem
Sarah Riches
Our London Local Expert
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