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Modern and Contemporary British Art

Explore the best of British art from 1940 to today

Pauline Boty, The Only Blonde in the World 1963. Tate. © The estate of Pauline Boty.

Explore works that changed art as we know it from the Second World War to now. These rooms reflect an explosion of new ideas, styles and voices that transformed British art and society. Look out for paintings, sculptures, installations and photography by modern icons like Barbara Hepworth and Francis Bacon as well as contemporary works by Tracey Emin, Zineb Sedira and many more.

Find out what came before with Historic and Early Modern British Art.

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13 rooms in Modern and Contemporary British Art

Fear and Freedom

The Post-War era is one of immense social change and dramatic geopolitical realignment. Artists give visual expression to the experiences of loss, destruction and displacement, yet also to independence and freedom

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F.N. Souza, Crucifixion 1959. Tate. © The estate of F.N. Souza/DACS, London 2025.

Construction

As Britain begins to rebuild, some artists use new materials in dialogue with modern design and architecture, believing art can help build a new society

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Denis Williams, Painting in Six Related Rhythms 1955. Tate. © Estate of Denis Williams.

Marcel Duchamp and Richard Hamilton

This room explores the friendship and collaborations of the artists Richard Hamilton and Marcel Duchamp in the years 1956 to 1968

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Marcel Duchamp, The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) 1915–23, reconstruction by Richard Hamilton 1965–6, lower panel remade 1985. Tate. © Estate of Richard Hamilton and Succession Marcel Duchamp/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2025.

In Full Colour

Social changes, popular media and a new spirit of optimism inspire artists to embrace vibrant, colour-saturated imagery

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David Hockney, Man in Shower in Beverly Hills 1964. Tate. © David Hockney.

Ideas into Action

Artists begin working with ideas and images that can be rapidly transmitted in an increasingly interconnected world, addressing political and social issues

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Neil Kenlock MBE, Black Panther school bags 1970, printed 2010. Tate. © reserved.

Henry Moore

From the comfort of family to the destruction of war, Moore’s sculptures and drawings explore enduring subjects

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Francis Bacon and Henry Moore

Bacon and Moore’s dynamic figures explore the relationship between form and space

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Balraj Khanna

In these poetic, abstract paintings Balraj Khanna explores ideas of nature, community, imagination and the unconscious

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Balraj Khanna, Out of the Blue (2), 1987 © Courtesy of the Estate of Balraj Khanna.

No Such Thing as Society

Against a backdrop of economic and social transformation, artists in the 1980s explore their experience of the land and the body to reflect on their own identities and sense of belonging

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End of a Century

Media, money and celebrity transforms the landscape of British art. Provocative young artists take centre stage, while others contemplate cross-cultural identities

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Man holding a placard reading 'Everything is connected in life, the point is to know it and to understand it'

Gillian Wearing CBE, ‘Everything is connected in life...’ 1992–3

Mona Hatoum: Current Disturbance

Current Disturbance explores systems of control, political tension and the human body under surveillance

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Mona Hatoum, Current Disturbance 1996. Tate. © Mona Hatoum; Keeping it Real: An Exhibition of Four Acts: Act 3: Mona Hatoum: Current Disturbance (installation view) Courtesy White Cube, London and Alexander and Bonin, New York. Photo: Patrick Lears .

The State We're In

This final room in our five-century story of British art features artists of different generations working in Britain today. Some began exhibiting in the 1980s, while the youngest are in their twenties

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Woman leaning on a table, her mouth open and smiling

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Razorbill 2020

Zineb Sedira

Dreams Have No Titles combines the artist’s life story with fiction and documentary in ‘a film about film and filmmaking’

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A person in a yellow dress dances in a yellow room

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