\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx3255\tx6525\tx9780\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs22 Like many such institutions, the Tate Gallery owes its being to the muni
ficence of a wealthy benefactor. In the 1890s, Sir Henry Tate, who had made his millions in sugar, wished to leave his collection of sixty-five paintings by British artists to the nation. The works were valued at ú79,000, and Tate contributed an additi
onal ú80,000 to the cost of the building, with the intention of starting a æNational Gallery of British ArtÆ. Tate employed his own favourite architect, Sidney R.J. Smith, who also built the public libraries which the millionaire had donated in Lambeth
and Balham. The architectÆs Corinthian Classical style features a thrusting main portico that does little to hide the general weakness of proportion and detailing. The gallery was opened in August 1897.\par
