London is home to countless art galleries. With so many to choose from, which should you visit should you find yourself in the English capital? CNBC asked a mix of artists to share where people who make art like to see art.
Contemporary galleries
Lauren Baker, who works in a wide variety of media, also favors galleries offering a broad range of artworks. She recommends Alice Black Gallery in Soho for its "daring fine art with deeply conceptual works. It's not all pretty, there's often some dark and strange pieces that get you contemplating the meaning of life." On the opposite end of the spectrum is the "fun and colorful" display at Woolff Gallery in Fitzrovia, with its "focus on texture and tactile works and many sculptural elements." Baker also appreciates the atmosphere at Mayfair hotel Claridge's ArtSpace, where you can mingle with the "cool art crowd," and then head to the hotel's grand Foyer and Reading Room for traditional afternoon tea.
If you find yourself in East London, artist and costume designer Machine Dazzle recommends the galleries Amanda Wilkinson--with its "impeccable taste"--and Maureen Paley. Also on his list are the "forward-thinking and intelligent exhibitions" of Niru Ratnam in Fitzrovia.
Tate Galleries and Italian futurism
It is impossible to escape the Tate Galleries when you're in London. Landscape painter Katharine Edwards and multidisciplinary artist Komal Madar both recommend Tate Modern. Edwards cites the Mark Rothko room, showing Rothko's Seagram building paintings, which she describes as "contemplative, meditative" and "profoundly affecting." Madar looks forward to seeing Expressionists: Kandinsky, Munter and The Blue Rider, opening October 20.
Edwards also recommends Tate Britain, and, of course, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The latter is currently mounting is Summer Exhibition, displaying 1,700 works by seven Royal Academicians. She also appreciates the futurist Italian art at the Esoterick Collection in Islington.
As for Madar's other recommendations, he suggests Judy Chicago's Revelations at Serpentine North, and the White Cube galleries.
A photographer's favorites
The Photographer's Gallery in Soho is an unsurprising favorite for photographer Tom Oldham, who is drawn to its "powerful and edgy selections." Even so, he also appreciates the "different works, young and old" at the free-to-enter Gilbert & George Centre, run by be-suited collaborators Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore.
And let's not forget London's auction houses, such as Sotheby's and Christie's, where artworks are often exhibited before they go under the hammer. "Viewing is free and it's magical to see so much work of this quality up close," said Oldham.
