Paul 
DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund Grant for Barber Building Project The Barber has been awarded a £150,000 grant from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund to help realise our ambitious building improvement scheme. Work is now underway to make the Barber a more welcoming and accessible building for our visitors, return music to … Read more
What Are Medieval Manuscripts and Why Do They Matter? Medieval manuscripts are among the most captivating artefacts from the Middle Ages. Their intricate designs, devotional content, and historical significance continue to fascinate scholars, students, and art lovers alike. But what exactly are they, and why are they so important? To support our student-curated exhibition, Fragments of … Read more
Museums make us feel better: how art spaces improve wellbeing and connect communities Have you ever left a museum feeling happier, more relaxed, or more energised? This could be because engaging with cultural objects, from paintings and sculptures to ancient pottery and weapons, within these communal spaces enables you to forget about your daily troubles … Read more
Fragments of Devotion and Devotion to Fragments A Professor of Medieval English Literature Responds to the Barber’s New Exhibition The Barber’s stunning new exhibition Fragments of Devotion: A Sensory History of Illuminated Manuscript Cutting explores the sensual appeal of illuminated manuscripts. It takes us on a journey from the medieval origins of these gilded, exquisite … Read more
6 Eco-Friendly Summer Crafts for Kids Using Recycled Materials Looking for fun, low-cost craft ideas to keep your kids entertained during the summer holidays? These six eco-friendly and imaginative activities are perfect for children of all ages. Using recycled and natural materials, they’re not only budget-friendly but also great for sparking creativity, independence, and environmental awareness. ✂️ … Read more
How to Curate an Online Exhibition of Medieval Manuscripts | A Student’s Digital Curation Experience Have you ever wondered how centuries-old illuminated manuscripts – rich with gold leaf, intricate borders, and sacred imagery – can be brought to life in a digital exhibition? As a student on the University of Birmingham’s MA Art History and … Read more
What is Post-Impressionism? Post-Impressionism is a stylistic term for the work of certain late nineteenth-century artists who reacted to and developed Impressionism. Its headline artists include Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), and Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). They focused more on personal expression than the artists that came before them. The bold brush strokes, vivid … Read more
Funding drive announced The Barber’s galleries are set to undergo a major refurbishment and a new learning wing is to be created – if funding can be raised to support the latest plans. New wall linings will be installed to replace the faded and worn 1980s fabric coverings, along with a state-of-the-art lighting system. A … Read more
Offsite Exhibitions 2025 – 2026 The Barber is closed to the public as we undergo a major transformation project. A selection of our world-class collections will be on display at partner galleries in the UK giving you the chance to experience these works in exciting new contexts. The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable … Read more
The Scent Experiences In 1850, the founding members of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood set up a journal called The Germ, to disseminate their ideas. It lasted just four issues and included a call for smell in art. The Pre-Raphaelite sculptor, poet, critic and writer John Lucas Tupper described a visit, some years earlier, to the British … Read more
Bells and Smells In Solomon’s watercolour A Saint of the Eastern Church (1867–68), a haloed young man in a decorative tunicle, with dark hair and a deeply introspective gaze, carries a sprig of myrtle and a censer that emits fumes of incense. Two lamps are suspended from the ceiling by chains, which appear to be … Read more
Spring Awakenings Calls for sunshine, fresh air and cleanliness by Victorian sanitary campaigners such as Edwin Chadwick influenced the trend for lighter, brighter en-plein-air paintings in the 1840s and 1850s. This trend gathered momentum as the century progressed and inspired the brightness of Pre-Raphaelite paintings such as Millais’s The Blind Girl (1854-56) and later works … Read more
All smell is disease ‘All smell is, if it be intense, immediate acute disease.’ Edwin Chadwick, England’s first Public Health Commissioner, made this claim in 1846, adding that ‘all smells’ weaken the body, rendering it vulnerable to contagion.1 Belief in miasma (smells arising from decomposing matter) as the cause of cholera and other contagions originated … Read more
Curator’s Introduction: Scent and the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites Scent and the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites explores the role of smell in mid-late Victorian art. It spans Pre-Raphaelite social realism of the 1850s and the Aesthetic ‘cult of beauty’ of the 1860s-1880s through to early-twentieth century Post Pre-Raphaelitism and Symbolism. It explores why and how … Read more
From one of the most significant artists of her generation, Claudette Johnson, presenting new work, through stunning botanical illustrations from the V&A and the portrayal of women on coins, to the aromas of Pre-Raphaelite art – the Barber will delight your senses in 2024 Claudette Johnson: Darker Than Blue 22 June – 15 September 2024 … Read more
Compton Verney presents Modern Masterpieces: Paintings from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts 12 November 2025 – 1 November 2026 Compton Verney, Warwickshire Offsite exhibition Find out more Step into a world of luminous colour, quiet observation, and artistic brilliance with Modern Masterpieces, an intimate display of exceptional Barber paintings on loan to Compton Verney … Read more
Community exhibition | An Allegory for the Senses Collaborative artwork with artist Natalie Zervou-Kerruish and artists from Sense TouchBase Pears On display at Sense Touchbase Pears, 750 Bristol Road Birmingham Runs until 31 May 2026. Free. Visit anytime during office opening hours. How can art be experienced through touch? Collaborating with artmakers at at the … Read more
The Courtauld presents The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable Collection 23 May 2025 – 31 August 2026 The Courtauld, London Offsite exhibition A selection of exceptional paintings from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, will go on view at The Courtauld Gallery for an extended display from May 2025, while … Read more
Charleston in Firle present Inventing Post-Impressionism: works from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts 8 March–2 November 2025, Charleston in Firle Offsite exhibition In partnership with The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, Charleston presents a major exhibition showcasing a selection of the Barbers Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artworks. The show will revisit the … Read more
Galleries closed for essential building improvements: Phase 2 The Barber Institute’s galleries closed to the public at 5pm on Sunday 26 January 2025 to prepare for the second installment of building improvement works. The project, which will eventually require the full closure of the building to the public in the spring this year, will create … Read more
The Hidden Lives of Plants: Botanical Illustrations from the V&A 22 June – 10 November 2024 There are almost 1,000 botanical illustrations in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection – ranging from scientific diagrams documenting medicinal plants to merchandising images that adorn seed packets. Many of these illustrations also exist as objects of beauty in their own … Read more
Unstill Life Global Mobility and Consumerism in Still Life Paintings 22 June 2024 – 26 January 2025 Still life paintings have often been considered as impressive assortments of inanimate objects. However, there is also a dynamic and mobile history intrinsic to their production: the expansion of global trade and rise of consumerism. The emergence of … Read more
Fragments of Devotion: A Sensory History of Illuminated Manuscript Cuttings Online exhibition Launches 30 June 2025 Explore the exhibition here Devotion leaves traces—on parchment, in song, through touch. Across centuries, acts of worship have imprinted themselves on sacred manuscripts, transforming them into deeply personal objects of connection and belief. Fragments of Devotion invites you to … Read more
Scent and the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites 11 October 2024 – 26 January 2025 Scent is a key motif in paintings by the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic movements. Fragrance is visually suggested in images of daydreaming figures smelling flowers or burning incense, enhancing the sensory aura of ‘art for art’s sake’. Scent was … Read more
Claudette Johnson: Darker Than Blue 22 June – 15 September 2024 Claudette Johnson – recently shortlisted for the 2024 Turner Prize – is one of the most exciting and prominent artists working in the UK today. New and recent work features here in her first solo exhibition in the West Midlands. Johnson is best known … Read more
Women in Power: Coins from the Barber Collection 22 June 2024 – 26 January 2025 Spanning nearly 2,000 years and more than 5,000 miles, the Barber’s forthcoming coin exhibition explores historical women who have appeared on coins. From London to Beijing, and from representations of gender-fluid deities from the 3rd century BC to Elizabeth II … Read more
Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, Anthony van Dyck and Frans Hals are among the dazzling selection of paintings from Woburn Abbey that take centre stage in the Barber’s lead exhibition this summer. The show features one of the largest and most significant groups of Old Master paintings from the important collection of the Dukes of … Read more
