Tate’s research remit is broad and encompasses not only art history but also visual culture, technical art history and conservation science, cultural theory and policy, education and museum studies.
Individual projects are initiated in all these subject areas at Tate – see research projects for details and resources. In addition, Tate aims to stimulate research and fresh thought in wide-ranging or new subject areas, by bringing together staff and scholars from different disciplines and collaborating with a number of partner organisations.
We have established several Research Centres to focus attention and energy on areas of particular interest to Tate, or where Tate is uniquely placed to contribute to debates within research communities.
The Art Museum and its Future
Art museums today face many challenges. Like all museums, they need to respond and adapt to the many forces shaping the contemporary world.
British Romantic Art
The centre aims to promote research on British art from around 1770 to 1850. Tate’s collection of British art of the Romantic period, which includes the Turner Bequest, the Oppé collection of watercolours and drawings, and major holdings of the work of William Blake and John Constable, is among the greatest in the world.
Creative Communities
Building upon the legacy of the St Ives artist colony in Cornwall, the Centre at Tate St Ives aims to encourage research into the origins, activities and future of creative communities in the Britain and elsewhere.
Rethinking Modernism
The long-contested notion of modernism dominates art historical accounts of the twentieth century, just as competing definitions of the term are pivotal in the more recent evolution of art historical and critical discourse. Debates around modernism have been at the centre of Tate’s concerns for many years.
Asia-Pacific
The Asia-Pacific Research Centre aims to further the research, documentation, publication, acquisition and exhibition of works of modern and contemporary Asia-Pacific art both within Tate and the wider academic world.
Contact us
To discuss possible research collaborations or projects with Tate, please email research@tate.org.uk.