John Morse Brown

GALLERIES CLOSED

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The Barber Institute, an art deco building, viewed through two trees in Autumn.

Our galleries are currently closed, as of Monday 2 October 2023, to enable us to carry out essential building work. They will reopen in summer 2024.

The remainder of our building – our reception, shop, foyer, toilets, libraries, lecture theatre, teaching spaces, and our administrative and academic offices (Department of History of Art, Curating and Visual Studies; Music) remain open during this time, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm.

You are most welcome to continue to visit our beautiful Grade-1 listed building and enjoy its public spaces even though the galleries are closed.

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FAQ

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Your visit to the Barber: Frequently Asked Questions Your visit: Can I visit the galleries? Collapse No. Unfortunately, our galleries – including the main galleries that house our permanent collection, our print bays that show works on paper; our coin gallery and Lady Barber exhibition gallery – are all currently closed (as of 2 October … Read more

Worm: art +ecology

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Worm Art + Ecology logo

Barber Home – online workshop Facilitated by Angela Chan (curator, researcher and artist, also Worm: art + ecology), 7 December 2020. Angela Chan of curatorial project Worm Art +ecology investigated climate and environmental issues throughout art history in the Barber’s own collection. Angela hosted a guided workshop on how we might view and discuss painting, … Read more

Sights of Wonder: Photographs from the 1862 Royal Tour

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Sights of Wonder Pyramids, temples, sphinxes and shrines: breathtaking images of these ancient and often iconic landmarks, captured by pioneering photographer Francis Bedford, provided new insights for Victorians into the historic and biblical sites of the eastern Mediterranean. Generously lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, these remarkable photographs from the Royal Collection feature in … Read more

A Golden Jubilee: 50 Years of the Barber Coin Collection

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In 2020, the Barber celebrates the golden anniversary of its coin collection – one of the most significant in the world. Scholars and numismatists, Geoffrey Haines (1899 – 1981) and Philip Whitting (1903 – 1988), each left their vast collections of a combined 15,000 pieces to the Barber with the condition that the coins were … Read more

Online Talks: Series One

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Series one Enjoy an in-depth insight into the Barber’s stunning collection through this programme of mini podcasts. Discussions include past and present displays, small groups of related works, an aspect of the member of staff’s own research, or single masterpieces and recent acquisitions. Episode 11: ‘Reclining Nymph’: Androgynous Figures in Renaissance Art, with Kirsty Clarke, … Read more

Barber Schools | Projects

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Projects with Schools Explore creative projects between the Barber Institute and Secondary Schools using our archive below. Be inspired by how other teachers and students have used our collection for as a catalyst for collaboration and creativity. Lockdown Landscapes January – March 2021 In January 2021, just as we entered another national lockdown, the Barber’s … Read more

The Barber Collective

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Barber Home – digital showcase Celebrate the Barber Collective and its collaborators! Find out more about the Barber’s youth programme for 16 – 21 year olds and what they’ve been discovering, thinking about and creating. We showcase two projects with artists Navi Kaur and Hipkiss & Graney which explore far-reaching themes including colonialism, reclaiming histories, … Read more

Create a Camera Obscura

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Barber Home – make a camera obscura Did you know you can turn a whole room into a camera obscura? Explore our online exhibition Sights of Wonder by learning more about the Victorian photography of Francis Bedford. Bedford was the first photographer to ever accompany a royal tour. He photographed temples, pyramids, and people along … Read more

Infinite Opera

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Barber Home – online resource In March we had the pleasure of hosting an event, Nocturnes: Ethereal Science / Constructing Beauty, exploring Cornwall as Crucible. For this we commissioned Infinite Opera to make a response to the Barber’s recently acquired Constructivist sculpture, Linear Construction in Space No. 1 (1942 – 43), by the Russian artist Naum … Read more

St Ives Scrap Sculptures

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Barber Home – family Join artist Benny Semp and become a St Ives sculptor using our downloadable activity pack, inspired by our exhibition Cornwall as Crucible. Learn about the materials and techniques used by artists Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo and turn your household scrap materials into amazing Cornish-inspired sculptures! This family activity pack links … Read more

Zine-making with Sarah Taylor Silverwood

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Barber Home – make a zine We’re thinking about families… and families come in all shapes and sizes! Inspired by Adriaen van Ostade’s drawing The Child and The Doll, join artist Sarah Taylor Silverwood to make a zine and reflect on time spent with your family, whoever and wherever they may be. Anyone can make a … Read more

Degas Dancers with Becca Randall

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Barber Home – Degas dancers Explore movement and learn about ballet poses inspired by artist Edgar Degas. Contemporary dancer Becca Randall has produced three video workshops inspired by the Barber’s bronze ballerina sculptures, Dancer Ready to Dance and Grande Arabesque. The whole family can take part – warm up, try the creative dance game, and … Read more

Changing Shapes: Metamorphosis in Art

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More than 250 myths are woven together through themes of psychological and physical transformation – as well as love, pursuit and punishment – to create ‘Metamorphoses’ (8AD) an epic poem by Ovid (43BC – 17AD), who was the leading poet in Rome under the reign of Augustus. Stirring European artists for centuries, these ambitious themes … Read more

The Art of Devotion: Sacred Illuminations, Prints, and Drawings

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Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, decoding the mysteries of the Bible and the Gospels was an alluring and profitable enterprise for European artists and patrons. The demand for devotional material required innovation by the artists – to create new and varied art in a changing artistic landscape. According to legend, Luke the Evangelist … Read more

CÉZANNE AND THE MODERN FRENCH PRINT

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Centring on an exciting new loan – ‘Les Baigneurs, Petite Planche’, an 1896-7 lithograph by Paul Cézanne – this display explores a pivotal point in French avant-garde art. The artist made only nine prints across the whole of his career, two of which are in the Barber’s collection. The three prints together form a group … Read more

MATERNAL BONDS – IMAGES OF MOTHERHOOD

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Though one of the most timeless relationships represented in art, the portrayal of mother and child has changed over the course of history. Spanning five centuries, ‘Maternal Bonds’ showcases prints by Marcantonio Raimondi, Hans Thoma and Käthe Kollwitz, alongside drawings by the Dutch Golden Age artists Nicolaes Maes and Adriaen van Ostade. Ranging from religious … Read more

CORNWALL AS CRUCIBLE – Modernity and Internationalism in Mid-century Britain

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Remote and picturesque, St Ives in Cornwall became an unlikely hotbed for avant-garde art in the mid 20th century. Painters and sculptors made it their home, either permanently or as temporary exiles, bringing with them their preoccupation with international modernity. Taking as its inspiration the Barber’s recently acquired Constructivist sculpture, ‘Linear Construction in Space No. 1’ … Read more

Online Talks: Series Three

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Series three Enjoy an in-depth insight into the Barber’s stunning collection through this programme of mini art podcasts. Discussions include past and present displays, small groups of related works, an aspect of the member of staff’s own research, or single masterpieces and recent acquisitions. Episode 4:  Women on Coins, with Maria Vrij, Coin Curator. Listen … Read more

The Printed Word: Image, Text and Meaning

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Text and image come under discussion in European prints from the 16th to the 20th century by or after artists as diverse as Samuel Palmer, Goya, Grosz and Miró. Inscriptions on portraits, literary references in historical images, lettering styles, and text as an element of composition: all these fascinating issues are explored. The display includes … Read more

The Mughals: Power and Beauty at the Indian Court

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Courtly life, power and culture in the Indian subcontinent under Mughal rule (1526 – 1858) are explored in this fascinating display of drawings and prints, coins and manuscripts. Objects lent by the University’s Cadbury Research Library (CRL) and the private Hussain-Islimi Arts Collection – alongside rarely-exhibited works from the Barber’s own collection – reveal how … Read more

Truly Bright and Memorable: Jan de Beer’s Renaissance Altarpieces

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Famed in his lifetime and for several generations after his death for his stylish and elegant paintings, Antwerp’s Jan de Beer (c. 1475 – 1527/28) created dazzling altarpieces that appealed to churches at home and abroad, copyists, patrons and collectors. However, his star subsequently waned until the early 20th century, when experts and connoisseurs began … Read more

The Face of Fashion

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Portrait miniatures were popular in Europe from the early 17th-century until around the 1850s, depicting their sitters in the silks, brocades and lace that adorned the garments of the day. Often ornate and gem-like, many were designed to be worn on the body – themselves becoming fashion accessories. This display, featuring a selection of exquisite … Read more

Lady Barber’s Life and Legacy

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A 150th Birthday Tribute The Barber Institute’s founder, Lady Barber (1869 – 1933), was born Martha Constance Hattie Onions, on 16 May 1869 at Earl’s Croome in Worcestershire. This display, celebrating the 150th anniversary of her birth, turns the spotlight on Lady Barber’s life: her social circle, her artistic endeavours, and her interests in gardening, … Read more

The Paper Museum: the Curious Eye of Cassiano dal Pozzo

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An unquenchable curiosity and desire to document the world around him drove the Italian patron Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588 – 1657) to assemble his ‘Paper Museum’ – a spectacular collection of around 10,000 drawings, watercolours and prints. It covered antiquities, architecture, zoology, botany and geology, social customs and ceremonies, costumes, portraits, topography and military maps. … Read more

A Tale of Two Empires: Rome and Persia

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A stand-off between two superpowers may feel like a relatively modern phenomenon – but it is one with roots extending back thousands of years. ‘A Tale of Two Empires’ charts a fascinating journey: from the violence, glory and humiliation of the third century; through the artistic interaction, peace, and tolerance of the early fifth to … Read more

War and Peace

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Observations of Conflict and its Aftermath The dynamism and violence of conflict and the horror of its consequences have always been fertile subject-matter for artists commissioned or compelled to document war. This display of prints explores conflicts from four periods in history – from the battles of Louis XIII in the 17th century via the … Read more

Maman: Vuillard & Madame Vuillard

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Édouard Vuillard painted his mother more than 500 times throughout his career. Striving to establish himself among the French avant-garde, Vuillard lived and worked in modest apartments shared with his mother and other members of their family in Paris. He lovingly portrayed Madame Vuillard as carer, housewife and businesswoman, running a dress-making business from her … Read more