Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
4.5
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
About
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art houses a rare display of masterful works by the top 20th-century Italian futurist artists including Balla, Boccioni, Carrá, Serverini, and Russolo.
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- Highbury & Islington • 5 min walk
- Highbury & Islington • 5 min walk
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4.5
123 reviews
Excellent
67
Very good
39
Average
9
Poor
3
Terrible
5
Sharon M
1 contribution
Aug 2021
Lovely gallery and shop but vastly overpriced restaurant ÂŁ3 for a cup, not even a pot of tea and when asked for some extra hot water we were told that this is not normally done but would be an exception and we got tiny little milk jugs of hot water to make some extra tea- ÂŁ3 for a Portuguese custard pastry... that will teach me to check the menu in future before I buy! Service charged automatically and then I was asked if I would like to leave a tip.... well what is service charge if it is not a tip? Hey ho. Great art great gallery, cakes lovely but expensive.
Written 19 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to feedback on your experience at the Estorick Collection. We are sorry that your experience in the onsite café did not live up to your expectations and was not good enough. We have spoken to the company that runs the café about your comments, so that they can improve their service and gratuity practices in future.
We hope that, despite your last unsatisfactory trip, you will visit the museum again and have a better experience.
Best wishes, Luke Alder
Written 19 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Cynthia S
1 contribution
Dec 2021 • Couples
We entered the cafe upon arriving at the gallery (its at the front) and were quickly told off by an aggressive and unfriendly young woman who ordered us to sit outside in the conservative rather than order at the counter as there only a table service was available (but no signs indicating this and there were also inside tables). She impatiently took our order, cutting us off and turning her back before we’d finished speaking, seemingly offended because we asked for a soya latte when no non-dairy is available. I opted to wait until I could find a non-dairy option at a later time.
My partner’s black Americano cost £3.80, was substandard and served resentfully. Other menu items were similarly overpriced.
Other customers had obviously been treated similarly so the atmosphere in the otherwise attractive venue was rather chilly and awkward.
The collection itself is wonderfully refreshing and informative and very well curated. Nice bookshop too. The gallery staff are welcoming and efficient. A pleasant visit that enjoyed very much.
Such a pity that the cafe is out of step with the ethos of the gallery. Avoid at all costs!
My partner’s black Americano cost £3.80, was substandard and served resentfully. Other menu items were similarly overpriced.
Other customers had obviously been treated similarly so the atmosphere in the otherwise attractive venue was rather chilly and awkward.
The collection itself is wonderfully refreshing and informative and very well curated. Nice bookshop too. The gallery staff are welcoming and efficient. A pleasant visit that enjoyed very much.
Such a pity that the cafe is out of step with the ethos of the gallery. Avoid at all costs!
Written 1 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for feeding back on your experiences at the Estorick Collection.
We are sorry that your visit to our onsite café was not good enough. The café is run by a separate company from the museum and so we will be relaying your comments to them and ensuring that the issues that you have raised are promptly addressed.
We hope that, despite this unsatisfactory visit, we will see you at the museum again in the future, for a better experience.
Best wishes,
Luke
Written 6 December 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Brian H
London, UK13 contributions
Jan 2020
My first visit to a place I'd never previously heard of. I've no real idea what the permanent display at the gallery is like so my rating is based on the current temporary exhibition of works by the futurist artist Tullio Crali. There's a generous selection on display and the quality is very impressive. He had a unique and immediately attractive style both in terms of forms and colours. The gallery itself is also very appealing. It's a sensitively adapted town house, with modern facilities including a cafe (which I didn't use, but it looked very good).
Written 31 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
XB A
5 contributions
Feb 2022
This is a unique art gallery that displays a varied permanent collection. I saw the Bice Lazzari exhibition for my Silver Arts Award coursework and it was fascinating to see the artwork up close and her use of varied media. Her work begins with multiple different pieces of collage, which may be simple but have lots of abstract meaning for the viewer to interpret their own narrative. The permanent collection features a curated selection of sculpture and paintings, bringing out lots of vibrant colours, which I found very visually pleasing. I would recommend the Gallery to anyone wanting a taste of something alternative. The staff were also very helpful and welcoming. The lady at the café was also very kind and the homemade tomato soup was wonderfully refreshing and light.
Written 20 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
futtock21
London, UK17,143 contributions
July 2020 • Solo
The Estorick Collection of Modern Art situated in a Georgian building just off Canonbury Square is one of my favourite art galleries. Although small I never tire of the ever-changing permanent collection which runs the entire gamut of 20th century Italian art from the futurists such as Balla, Severini (his pointillistic Boulevard of 1910-11 is one of the true highlights of Italian art) and Boccioni to the supreme equine sculptures of Marino Marini, the (literally) potty female forms of Campigli or the still-lives of Morandi. But there are also temporary exhibitions which rarely fail to prove enlightening such as the resurrected survey of the life and works of Tulio Crali, a sort of futurist born in Zadar, Croatia whose mesmerising vision of a pilot descending into a whirlwind of skyscrapers is one of the many high points of this exhibition. A sort of earlier Italian version of Peter Lanyon perhaps? Collages of machinery, a flurry of bits of human anatomy in a mask and a room of bizarre sculptures made out of found objects also feature.
Written 16 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BalastarGalactica
London, UK6 contributions
July 2021
Unfortunately our visit was completely ruined by staff.
We are a BAME family. We bought our entry as we walked in but were advised that there were no paper tickets or even the usual stickers due to Covid. We then went for coffee next to the reception, then after our drinks proceeded into the gallery. New reception staff called us and asked if we had paid and we advised that we had.
However shortly afterward we were chased into the gallery by staff who asked if we were sure we had paid and what was our name - asking us to point to it on the list. We advised that we hadn't booked online but paid on entry and he continued to make a scene demanding I show him our names on the list, and I had to repeat that I had at no point given my name so it would not be there and eventually he left us in peace.
This was very embarrassing especially for the children. I clarified on the way out that the error was theirs, but there was no apology offered. The experience left us unable to enjoy the small collection with some beautiful pieces, but which do require some level of internal calm to appreciate.
We are a BAME family. We bought our entry as we walked in but were advised that there were no paper tickets or even the usual stickers due to Covid. We then went for coffee next to the reception, then after our drinks proceeded into the gallery. New reception staff called us and asked if we had paid and we advised that we had.
However shortly afterward we were chased into the gallery by staff who asked if we were sure we had paid and what was our name - asking us to point to it on the list. We advised that we hadn't booked online but paid on entry and he continued to make a scene demanding I show him our names on the list, and I had to repeat that I had at no point given my name so it would not be there and eventually he left us in peace.
This was very embarrassing especially for the children. I clarified on the way out that the error was theirs, but there was no apology offered. The experience left us unable to enjoy the small collection with some beautiful pieces, but which do require some level of internal calm to appreciate.
Written 14 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are so sorry to hear about this and would like to offer my sincere apologies for the experience you had at the Estorick Collection. We are a small and friendly museum and aim to make all our visitors feel comfortable and welcome. But on this occasion we made some mistakes. Because of COVID, we are not issuing physical tickets at the moment and most of our visitors book online. For those people who come to the gallery without pre booking, we are able to sell tickets if we have COVID-safe capacity – which was the case on the day of your visit. Normally with walk-up ticket sales, we make a note of our visitors’ names and contact details, but on this occasion, we failed to do so, relying only on your registering with the Track and Trace app, which you kindly did. Then there was a staff changeover in the time between your purchasing your tickets and entering the museum, due to your visit to the caffe. We think the mix up was compounded because we had not booked the children in; even though entry to under 18s is free, current COVID restrictions require us to book in all visitors. Additionally, we need to observe time slots to limit numbers in the galleries. The volunteer staff member who sold you the tickets should have made that clearer to you, so that you could have told them about your visit to the caffe and booked your museum visit time accordingly. I take full responsibility for these mistakes and although I know our explanation won’t make up for your spoiled visit, I do hope we will see you at the museum again. Please contact me at curator@estorickcollection.com as I will be more than happy to hear from you - Roberta Cremoncini, Director, Estorick Collection
Written 2 August 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
futtock21
London, UK17,143 contributions
June 2021 • Solo
The Estorick like so many other institutions has finally come out of its enforced hibernation and is now presenting its first new exhibition since Covid. Three out of its seven galleries exhibit a selection of works which must surely represent an unusual choice for a gallery housing a collection of 20th century Italian art, namely the works of Frenchman Olivier Debre (1920-1999). On the first floor ate some early calligraphic works in gouache and ink with an evident Japanese influence. However it is his large abstract canvases in the two ground floor galleries which represent his mature style. Influenced by natural phenomena at their best they feel as if Rothko had met Turner. Not geometric or even mathematical like Marc Vaux or based on remembered domestic experiences like Howard Hodgkin his works nevertheless reveal him as their equal.
Written 3 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karlos359
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia167 contributions
Oct 2021 • Solo
Tucked away in NE London is a truly wonderful collection of 20th Century Italian Art still owned by the family. I started my visit off in the little cafe there eating homemade Italian food served by a lovely lady from Naples. The collection is home to some of the big name hitters of Italian art and also some lesser known ones. My visit coincided with a talk by the artist Paul Coldwell who delighted us with love of Giorgio Morandi and how it has influenced his own works, some of which were on display. The Professor even treated us to a couple of his lockdown poems. A wonderful afternoon spent in the company of Bella Italia is always a winner for this Italianophile.
Written 24 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
futtock21
London, UK17,143 contributions
Oct 2021 • Solo
The Estorick Collection of 20th century Italian Art housed in a Georgian townhouse just off Canonbury Square usually features special exhibitions in its largest ground floor galleries. So it is quite a delight to see this trend reversed with all three floors showing the entire collection but with an upstairs room of Morandi still lives supplemented by sculptures by Paul Caldwell (b1952). This affords an opportunity to present some of the gallery’s greatest works by the likes of Balla, Boccioni and Severini in the grandest of spaces. But still with plenty of room for displays of Modigliani, Marini and de Chirico. There is also a pleasant cafe with an outdoor garden patio and a bookshop selling biographies of Italian artists some of previous exhibitions held here and published by the gallery itself.
Written 16 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sheri W
Castle Cary, UK10 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
This is a lovely little gallery that frequently has very interesting small exhibitions - todays visit to see the work of the photographer Lisetta Carmi was no exception. However the gallery is let down by its cafe, which served the worst cup of coffee that I have been given in a long time - particularly poor for an Italian establishment. I asked for a cappuccino with very hot milk. The first offering was almost completely cold. I took it back and asked for a replacement. The obviously untrained barista clearly had no idea what a cappuccino was or how to operate the coffee machine. The second offering was a tepid cup of milky coffee. I gave up at that point and left it on the table, as she clearly wasn’t going to give me anything drinkable. I complained at the Ticket Desk as I was leaving - apologies but no reparation. I would certainly go back to the Estorick to see an exhibition, but I most definitely wouldn’t use the cafe.
Written 27 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Sheri
Thank you for writing about your visit to the Estorick Collection last month - we are so pleased to hear that you enjoyed the Lisetta Carmi exhibition.
We are sorry to hear of your experience in the cafe, however, and would like to apologise for the quality of your coffee. We had a temporary coffee machine while our machine was having its annual check and refurbishment off site and unfortunately there were some issues which coincided with your visit. Our regular machine has returned to Caffè Estorick and the coffees are back to their usual high quality. We hope that when you are next here for an event or exhibition you will let us know so that we can offer you a coffee free of charge.
With best wishes
The Estorick Collection
Written 24 November 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Can you give me walking directions from the Highbury & Islington tube station? Thank you.
Written 16 February 2017
Turn on Google maps on your phone? 🙂
Seriously, turn right out of the tube cross the road opposite McDs and right down the next main road Cannonbury Rd. The gallery is about 300 m down the road on the left before the traffic lights. Enjoy!
Written 17 February 2017
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