How can I say this delicately?
How about this: We found this to be a place challenged by its reputation. Because to be honest the Modern Wing at the Art Institute in Chicago easily beats the Tate. I’m really surprised by this.
We found two galleries to be praiseworthy: the Mark Rothko gallery is practically a chapel and is as reverent a space as you’ll find in a museum. The picture here sucks because the pieces hanging in this gallery are simply gorgeous.
The other noteworthy gallery was the William Eggleston photography from the 1960s and 1970s era American south. I grabbed our favorites (sorry for the glare, it was unavoidable in most instances):
My favorite.
There is a Gerhard Richter gallery that has some of his early, although unfamous, works. Certainly nothing of the calibre that the Modern Wing has as part of its collection.
To be fair, we skipped the Paul Klee exhibit because it’s not a permanent part of the Tate Modern and we figured we would see it when it comes to Chicago.
But beyond that, they include a lot of realists and impressionists in their collection which we found surprising. The Art Institute leaves those separate from the Modern Wing and focuses entirely on modern art.
If you’re a devotee, you must visit the Tate Modern as it is a notable stop in this world. But if you are ambivalent about modern art, you can easily skip it.
