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Tate Modern is Britain’s national museum of international modern art. It is in London, on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London. It displays examples of modern art from 1900 to the present day.

Tate Modem opened in 2000. The building was originally the Bankside Power Station, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed Waterloo Bridge and the famous British red telephone box. The power station closed in 1981 and architects Herzog and de Meuron helped convert it into an art gallery. The building is more than 200 metres long and its chimney is 99 metres high. There are 5 levels and the vast Turbine Hall. This is where the Tate displays large installations(现代雕塑装置) by contemporary artists. One famous example of an installation was a series of huge slides that visitors could go down, leading from the different levels of the building to the hall floor. This, and other popular installations, has helped inspire the imagination of the public, and Tate Modem is now one of the biggest tourist attractions in London. There are plans to build a glass pyramid extension, dedicated to photography and video exhibitions.

Many art galleries arrange art chronologically(按时间先后), but Tate Modern organizes its works of art according to the important movements of the twentieth century. These include Abstraction, with paintings by artists like Wassily Kandinsky; Surrealism, with works by artists like Salvador Dali and Max Ernst; Cubism, with works by Picasso; and Pop Art, represented by artists like Andy Warhol.

There are 3 other Tate galleries — Tate Britain (also in London), Tate Liverpool and Tate St lves in Cornwall. Tate Modern is however, the most popular.