The Liverpool Tate

The Tate Liverpool

The Tate Liverpool is a museum of contemporary art of the Albert Dock, northern branch of the famous Tate, signalled by the colourful sculpture Liverpool Mountain by Ugo Rondinone. The Liverpool audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this essential stop for lovers of modern art, that gathers excellent collections, including a free permanent exhibition, by the water.

The art museum and the Liverpool Mountain

The sculpture by Ugo Rondinone, representing a pile of colourful stones, indicates to you that you are in front of the Tate Liverpool. Less impressive than that of London, it is nevertheless an essential stop for lovers of contemporary art, gathering excellent collections, including a free permanent exhibition. The sculpture that welcomes you, named Liverpool Mountain, is the first public artwork of the Swiss artist in the United Kingdom. More than ten metres high, it draws its inspiration from the hoodoos, these natural fairy chimneys formed by a column of friable rock capped with a sort of stone hat of a different nature. You have perhaps already seen them, in real life or in photo: they are the famous hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia or the demoiselles coiffées of the High Alps. With its vividly coloured blocks stacked in balance, the sculpture brings a joyful and playful touch to the waterfront. Inside, the museum, installed in a former brick warehouse of the dock, displays over several levels works of modern and contemporary artists, British and international, as well as leading temporary exhibitions. It is one of the cultural high places of the city, that contributes, alongside the neighbouring museums, to the artistic influence of Liverpool. An art museum and a colourful sculpture, the Tate Liverpool is a fine stop of the discovery of the city.

What to see

Here you discover the Liverpudlian branch of the Tate, a museum of contemporary art of the Albert Dock with excellent collections, including a free permanent exhibition; in front of the entrance sits the Liverpool Mountain by Ugo Rondinone, a sculpture more than ten metres high with colourful stones inspired by the hoodoos. The Tate Liverpool is a cultural high place of the city. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Tate Liverpool lies at the Albert Dock, in Liverpool, reachable on foot. The permanent exhibition is generally free; the temporary exhibitions may be paying, and the hours follow those of the establishment, which vary. It is best to enquire before coming. You discover it during a walk on the waterfront.

What is the Liverpool Mountain of the Tate Liverpool?

It is a sculpture more than ten metres high, made of vividly coloured stone blocks stacked in balance, the first public artwork of the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone in the United Kingdom; it draws its inspiration from the hoodoos, these natural fairy chimneys like those of Bryce Canyon or Cappadocia, and signals the entrance of the Tate Liverpool, museum of contemporary art of the Albert Dock.

Where is the Tate Liverpool?

At the Albert Dock, on the waterfront of Liverpool, in England.