Card of the Day: The King at the Tate Gallery

I can imagine that Queen Mary was particularly excited about the opening of two new galleries at the Tate Gallery in London. An avid patron of the arts, Mary of Teck showed an interest in a variety of media and time periods. The opening of these new galleries was particularly important after the Great War when evidence that British culture was flourishing was more important than ever.


The twenty-fifth card in the series of Wills’s Cigarette Cards commemorating the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary shows the King visiting the newly opened portions of the Tate Gallery.

The reverse of the card reads:

THE KING AT THE TATE GALLERY


The two splendid new galleries—The Sargent and Modern Foreign Art Galleries—which the munificence of Sir Joseph Duveen added to the Tate Gallery, were opened by His Majesty on June 26th, 1926. He is seen walking with the Queen through the extensions, Lord D’Abernon, Chairman of the Board and Trustees, on his left, and Lord Peel, then First Commissioner of Works, immediately behind. The pictures of modern foreign artists were inadequately represented in this country until room was thus found for them, and a gift of £50,000 by Mr. Samuel Courtauld enabled discriminating purchase. The Tate is now the largest gallery in Europe.

Here’s a glimpse at the Tate Gallery as it is today. The original building now houses Tate Britain while the Tate Modern is a different facility. Plans to expand the complex are in the works.

Tate Britain