Tracey Emin's Bed, Tate Britain

The Tate Britain Walk through British Art, from stern Tudor portraits to quirky Turner prize nominees, gets an overhaul this spring with Tracey Emin's My Bed (1998) as the star. The Walk through of the Tate Britain collection first opened in 2013 and displays some of the finest British works in a chronological display, with particular highlights being the serene natural forms of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and sensational Pre-Raphaelite images by Dante Gabriel Rossetti from the 19th century. 

Turner Prize Tracey Emin | My Bed

The famous unmade Tracey Emin bed is probably one of the best known Turner prize nominations (1999) in recent years, and rocketed her to stardom after the famous live Channel 4 debate in 1997 when Emin appeared intoxicated. Strewn with stained sheets, condoms, underwear and alcohol bottles, Emin made the infamous bed while she was living in a Waterloo council flat after a traumatic breakup.

Tracey Emin bed auction

The illustrious contemporary art collector, Count Christian Duerckheim, bought the piece last summer for a whopping £2.54 million at Christie's and has now loaned it to Tate for 10 years. 

Tate Walk through featured artists

As well as the provocative bed, you'll discover fantastic British works throughout the ages from the Renaissance to contemporary artists like David Hockney and Antony Gormley, as you wander the halls of the Tate galleries. New Tate acquisitions are also on display for the first time, such as sisters Jane & Louise Wilson's black and white photographs Blind Landings (H-bomb Test Site, Orford Ness) (2013). Look out especially for the rough and tumble east end boys, Gilbert & George, sculptor Anish Kapoor's Adam (1988-9) and two paintings by Francis Bacon, Study of a Dog (1952) and Reclining Woman (1961), which Emin has specially selected in a dialogue with the tumultuous and emotionally raw bed. 

Come to the Tate Britain, London to catch a glimpse of Emin's messy bed, but stay for the countless examples of incredible works by British artists over the last 500 years.