Guildhall Art Gallery

On birthdays and bank holidays me and Mr G like to have a stroll around the capital and take in the weird and wonderful things we find along our way. London has so many good things that are not main attractions hidden down roads you walk past all the time and this little gem was one of them.
They have a really good selection of paintings, loads of them more quirky playful choices than those you see in bigger art galleries. They also have free talks to give insite into some of the works a couple of time a day.
Side with that they had a modern Martin Parr exhibition and some celebratory work for Shakespeare’s birthday which included a panorama iof London from 1616 and a modern day version in the same fashion. It included references to all 37 (apparently?) of Shakespeare’s plays. It was amazing to see the differences between the two Londons and find out people actually lived in houses ON London bridge (no thanks!) and to try and spot the plays with our very limited knowledge. I think we managed 3 really obvious ones???
Even if arts not your thing, they have the remains of a Roman amphitheatre down in the basement with a great set up and you can really get an idea of what it would have been like and it’s a well designed space with artifacts on display from the dig.
The place is not massive in size but for a small, playful dose of culture or even just somewhere to keep warm on a cold day, we really enjoyed this place and recommend it!

I love the beautiful art gallery attached to the Guildhall. They have a good collection that is a must visit. The collection contain European pieces and some modern items. It changes often so can be visited often…
Will definitely visit again!

A great art gallery right in the City. Plus it’s free entry for everyone now, not just City residents & workers! If you’re looking for some culture in your lunchbreak, you couldn’t do better than coming along here and soak it all in.
There’s a good range of work, with some collections focusing specifically on Victorian art, or pictures of London. There’s also the ‘hidden’ Roman Amphitheatre in the basement, which is a bit different (and was discovered by accident!)

I can’t believe nobody has reviewed this yet! Nestling in one of the modern arms of the Guildhall is a fairly extensive art gallery — normally around 250 paintings or pieces, with changing exhibitions around a central theme.
It costs £2.50 to get in (£1 with concessions); but if you’re a genuine City worker, you can take along a piece of your company’s headed paper, and they let you in free.
The gallery is open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday — although do check on their website for closures because if anyone important visits the UK they inevitably get taken for a slap-​up meal at the Guildhall, and the whole place closes down and becomes impossible to get into unless you’re prepared to dress up as an armed policeman. Which I do not recommend. I can’t stress that enough. Don’t do that. No.
The best thing about the gallery, though, is what’s under it. When you walk across the main Guildhall plaza outside, look at the ground. You will see an enormous circle laid out in black slate — it disappears under the corner of the modern building, but most of it is visible. This circle marks out the perimeter of what was originally a Roman amphitheatre (yes, a proper one with gladiators and everything!), and before Roman times, the site was a meeting place for the citizens of London before it was even really London.
Once inside the gallery you have access to the archaeological findings of that amphitheatre, which are visible in a large display under the art gallery — there’s not terribly much to see there, but there is a nice dug up bit with a glass cover that you can walk over, if you’re feeling brave (or want to test whether it’s time to go on a diet). The amphitheatre is underground and very dark and there is rarely anyone in there — literally — so if you go down there on your own, be prepared for the distant recorded sound of cheering Romans that your presence will trigger, because it nearly made me choke on my gum the first time I set it off.

The Guildhall Art Gallery is often overlooked but is a very important addition to the city’s art gallery scene. Free of entry to City workers and residents it houses an impressive collection of Victorian art. It is, in general, the collection of the City of London (the Square Mile, that is), and has focused on images of London subjects, thus an artistic counterpart to the Museum of London. I’m a big fan.