daviesac Golden Age Treasures from Holburne and Barber Collections The 17th-century ‘Golden Age’ of Dutch art is celebrated in this fascinating exhibition, which also compares the history and content of two university art collections — the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, and the Holburne Museum of Art, Bath. Unusually, both collections were founded by women. After … Read more
Re-interpretation, Reconstruction and re-contextualisation In its second year; the Barber Institute’s photographic competition Function, held in collaboration with Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), part of Birmingham City University, showcased the best young, creative talent. Undergraduate students from BIAD’s degree in Visual Communication found inspiration in the paintings on display at the Barber to … Read more
Treasures from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts The Wallace Collection, London To mark Lady Barber’s reference to the Wallace Collection as a benchmark of quality for the Barber’s own collections, key items of sculpture and decorative arts from the Barber will be displayed there. Objects will include an ancient Greek helmet, a 14th-century French … Read more
Masterpieces from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts Room 1, The National Gallery, London Between the foundation of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in 1932 and before the official opening of the building and its galleries on 26 July, 1939, works acquired by its first Director, Professor Thomas Bodkin, were stored or displayed at … Read more
European Portrait Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London, the Royal Collection and the Courtauld Gallery For the first time in the history of the Barber Institute, major paintings by Rembrandt, Goya, Lucas van Leyden and Cezanne will hang in its galleries in this fascinating interspersed display. Lady Barber stipulated that the collection to be acquired … Read more
Pre-Raphaelite Portraits by John Brett John Brett is best known for his early Pre-Raphaelite paintings, The Stonebreaker and Val d’Aosta and his late seascapes of the coast of Scotland, Wales and the West Country. This exhibition concentrates on a little-known aspect of his art – his portraiture. The great Victorian art critic John Ruskin, for a period his mentor, … Read more
The Religious, the Social & the Body In the 20th century, a number of artists rejuvenated the centuries-old art of printmaking to respond powerfully to modern issues. Visual motifs sourced from Christianity, society and the body were used to express the pain of contemporary life and to call for drastic change. The dynamic power of … Read more
Lake District Views from Abbott Hall Art Gallery From the 1770s onwards, tourists travelled to the Lake District in ever increasing numbers, creating what one writer called a ‘Rage for the Lakes’. Many painted and drew their own response to the glorious scenery, while others bought works from the professional artists who followed in their … Read more
Tennis in Art The first game of lawn tennis was played in 1859 by Major Harry Gem and his friend, Jean Batista Augurio Perera, on a court at the latter’s home, 8 Ampton Road, Edgbaston. This unique show at the Barber – less than half a mile away – is the first ever to explore … Read more
GIOVANNI ANTONIO CANAL, KNOWN AS CANALETTO The Loggetta, Venice Venice, the 1730s Oil on canvas 45.5 x 75.4 cm The Loggetta (1537-40), at the base of the campanile, or bell tower, in Saint Mark’s Square in Venice, was built as a small assembly room. Canaletto’s painting was cut down at an unknown date, perhaps so … Read more
Claude Monet The Church at Varengeville Varengeville, Normandy, 1882 Oil on canvas 65 x 81.3 cm The view is across a hidden gorge to the isolated cliff-top church at Varengeville. Monet painted various subjects along the Normandy coast in the summer of 1882. His practice was to work simultaneously on up to eight canvasses, moving … Read more
PAUL GAUGUIN Bathers at Tahiti Tahiti, 1897 Oil on sacking 73.3 x 91.8 cm This image of bathers in an exotic landscape of fiery hues was painted on Gauguin’s second trip to Tahiti. It is one of eight paintings that relate to the monumental canvas Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are … Read more
By Michele White The windswept trees in the foreground of Monet’s painting, The Church at Varengeville, were the inspiration for Michele White’s new work. Hand-crafted in silver, each layer was carefully constructed to represent the church in the background, and trees in the foreground. The glorious autumn colours were created by pausing the process of … Read more
New Work by Recent Local Graduates New Art West Midlands is a brand-new collaborative venture in partnership with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Grand Union, Birmingham, and funded by the Arts Council for England. From a bicycle wrapped in wool, through poignant photography, to a witty and entertaining animation: the best critically-engaged work by … Read more
17th- 19th-century British Miniatures from UK Private Collections Small masterpieces of British portraiture from two celebrated UK private collections – including a tiny portrait mounted on a finger-ring, of 18th-century British actor impresario David Garrick – are displayed in this exhibition, some for the first time ever. The exhibits range in date from about 1600 … Read more
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI The Blue Bower London, 1865 Oil on Canvas 84 x 70.9 cm Fanny Cornforth, the artist’s mistress, was the model for this striking image. The cornflowers at the front refer to her name and the passion flowers suggest her fiery character. But the image is more a hymn to beauty than a portrait. … Read more
René Magritte The Flavour of Tears Brussels, 1948 Oil on canvas 59.4 x 49.5 cm Surrealist paintings stir the imagination by subverting our expectations and transgressing boundaries. To this beguiling mixture Magritte adds a disturbing reality that we know from our dreams. Here, a totem-like bird assumes the form of a tobacco leaf. The birdleaf … Read more
The Rising Moon London, about 1855, published 1857 Etching on chine collé 269 x 366 mm A shepherd and his flock return home at evening in a scene also known as ‘An English Pastoral’. Palmer assembles different landscape elements, imagined and observed. The solitary figure, the sheep, and the moon are familiar from his earlier … Read more
A Nun Seated at a Table Paris, the 1910s Black chalk on paper 324 X 235 MM This drawing of an unknown nun is closely related to the series of portraits of Mère Poussepin Gwen John executed from 1913, one of which is shown in the Blue Gallery. The artist worked from a prayer card … Read more
Thomas Gainsborough The Harvest Wagon Bath, exhibited 1767 Oil on canvas 120.5 x 144.7 cm A group of rustic figures travel in a harvest wagon at the end of the working day. The figures are unusually prominent for Gainsborough’s landscapes and are the result of careful study. Two of the women are based on the … Read more
Jan Gossaert Hercules and Deianira Possibly Antwerp, 1517 Oil on wood 36.8 x 26.6 cm The classical hero Hercules is shown embracing his wife Deianira. Their seat is decorated with images of his heroic exploits, including the defeat of the Nemean lion and his victory over Antaeus. Their erotic encounter, however, is doomed. Deianira sits … Read more
Evaristo Baschenis A Still Life with Musical Instruments Bergamo, North Italy, about 1660 Oil on canvas 95.5 x 129 cm A dramatically-lit group of objects demonstrates the artist’s mastery of illusion. Note the dust on the lute, to the right, and the sumptuous folds of the curtain above. The painting is an example of a … Read more
Ludlow Castle, from the North West, with the River Teme London, about 1800 Pencil, watercolour, scratching out on paper 357 X 572 MM Turner visited Ludlow in the summer of 1798 when he made a number of studies of the ruined castle and its surrounds. The pencil drawing of this scene was partly finished in … Read more
The Bath House Nuremberg, about 1496 Woodcut 388 X 282 MM Dürer depicts an open-air bath house of a kind that was popular in northern Europe around 1500. Male figures are shown at different ages and in varied and complex poses, created by a network of crisp lines that curve and trace the surface of … Read more
The Barber Fine Art Library is located on the ground floor of the Barber. The library is a specialist research-level collection of books, exhibition catalogues and sale catalogues on Western art covering most of the major European schools of painting from the early Renaissance to the 21st century, the history of collecting, and also some Byzantine art. The … Read more
The European Landscapes of Thomas Fearnley The fjords, forests, mountains, torrents and glaciers of Scandinavia and Switzerland, the lakes and picturesque country buildings of Cumbria, and the sun-drenched plains, hillsides, rocks and sea-shores of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean… Landscapes featuring a breathtaking range of Europe’s varied and beautiful scenery feature in this dazzling exhibition- … Read more
