The Courtauld Gallery Reviews Summary

Building & Location

Pros:

• "The building itself is interesting and inspiring."
• "The main courtyard is large and impressive."
• "The gallery is located at the grand heritage building called The Somerset House which is worth seeing on itself."
• "Located near the South Bank, Covent Garden and the Strand it's an easy location to see other attractions in London."
• "First you are struck by the outstanding architecture. The great staircase is one most of us won’t experience that often."
• "The setting is beautiful."
• "A beautiful area with a 3 floored gallery, cafes and shops."

Cons:

• "The gallery has reduced a lot the numbers of paintings from the 1800/1900 collection available at the third floor, which was much bigger a few years ago."
• "The huge gift shop which is now there is first of all unnecessarily large and secondly makes the terrace redundant."
• "The top floor has been ruined - it feels like a Le Corbusier nightmare, only without a concomitant avant-garde nature; indeed it feels like a soulless, blank, commercial gallery."
• "The elevator is broken so difficult to ascend three curving staircases."
• "It was OK. A little cramped. Too many people."
• "The gallery is not big."
• "The number of people seemed a bit too many at times. We booked a time slot so we weren't expecting that many people."

Art Collection & Exhibitions

Pros:

• "Wonderful gallery."
• "Third floor is fabulous."
• "This is where you can find famous paintings like Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with bandaged ear' (1889) and Manet's 'A bar at the Folies-Bergere (1882)."
• "Great collection of paintings, many of them quite famous."
• "It's a captivating experience where you can immerse yourself in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces."
• "Visited for the Van Gogh self portraits exhibition. Stunning exhibition with 16 of the still existing self portraits painted by him."
• "An extraordinary collection of paintings spanning over five hundred years - truly breathtaking."

Cons:

• "But in the pursuit of change they have confined a mesmerising modigliani to an insignificant corner."
• "Some of the paintings that previously hung are in storage unfortunately so those looking for Renoir’s Outskirts of Pont-Aven and some of Cezanne’s still life collection will be disappointed."
• "Very disappointed with the Van Gogh portrait exhibition as little to add in the curating and very small."
• "One thing that disappointed me was putting Van Gogh’s Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear in their special exhibition with another extra fee."
• "Portraits of Van Gogh are impressive and beautiful but left feeling not completely fulfilled."
• "The exhibition is very well curated and has a feel of an educational institution. Peter Diog was the special exhibition but you get the feeling that you can trust most will be of a standard."
• "Don't expect your ticket to get you into all of the museum."

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "The attentive, courteous staff and the elegant classical historic facilities provide an enhanced environment."
• "Staff are very friendly and helpful."
• "Security guard at the doors was extremely lovely."
• "Everyone were very friendly and helpful. I was pointed to the lift and shown how to work it."
• "The staff at the desk is helpful, we spoke to them about what the gallery houses before buying tickets and they were more than willing to answer questions."
• "Staff are knowledgeable and approachable and many other attractions could learn from the gift shop."
• "Really lovely helpful friendly staff - I am a wheelchair user and one of the lifts wasn't working but the staff escorted me in via a different entrance and were great."

Cons:

• "The gallery was nice but the women who work at the reception she was not respectful and she treat me in a bad way."
• "The gallery is great but some of the staff need to receive serious retraining, especially in customer service."
• "A very rude staff member made us leave the paid Van Gogh exhibition 7 minutes prior to closing time."
• "Rude and incompetent staff. I dared to place an order, I was ignored and got told off for daring to ask for a coffee."
• "Gone straight to security received a right off attitude after asking for the closest toilet."
• "Staff are on the snotty side; a bit blunt and rude at times."
• "Very bad organisation. The guy with the glasses at the entrance serving ok but once the payment was done we didn’t know where to go."

Accessibility & Facilities

Pros:

• "Really great to visit, not so big that you can't take it all in. Nice cafe and really near public transport."
• "Online booking is simple and choosing your time lets you visit the cafes and tea rooms in Somerset House."
• "There are lifts for easy access."
• "An excellent lift, and the occasional glimpse of the great outside through a window."
• "The shop is excellent especially for art books."
• "Lower ground floor you will find gift shops, toilets and lockers."
• "Use the free lockers in the basement at the start of your visit."

Cons:

• "As a disabled visitor I would suggest check if main lift is working, if not you are restricted as to moving around the building."
• "The only down side of the gallery is that it does get very warm inside."
• "Only shame was the lack of air conditioning the day we went."
• "One thing to definitely avoid is that cafe though. So overpriced and so unpalatable."
• "Art Cafe also very poor. Warmed up food served cold and greasy."
• "It’s always shocking when somewhere like this charges while so many others 100x the size are completely free?"
• "It is frighteningly expensive now. I was shocked to see a small slice of cake on sale for £5.50."

Value & Experience

Pros:

• "It’s definitely worth a visit."
• "This gallery has become one of my favorite galleries in London."
• "This is an amazing gem of a gallery, tucked away off the Strand in Somerset House."
• "One of my favorite London museums. Amazing permanent collection full of masterpieces, they curated wonderful exhibitions, love the new refurbishment."
• "The Courtauld is best known for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including iconic works by Manet, Degas, Monet, van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne."
• "The Courtauld Gallery exceeded our already high expectations."
• "One of the best, quiet, gems of a small museum in the UK and maybe all Europe."

Cons:

• "Most people would, with usual exemption, need to pay £10 on average to view."
• "The Gallery is a bit pricey as for its size."
• "£18 for adults but children free."
• "The entry ticket of £9 (week day, even if bank holiday) seemed a little expensive, but I don't regret the visit."
• "Showed up late to exhibition, which I had bought tickets for. They told me they would have loved to let me in but there just wasn't any space... Unless I spent another £90 on a membership, in which case there is *magically* space available."
• "I wish it was free as other galleries in Somerset house."
• "TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS!" due to poor service experience.