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The Prints and Drawings Study Room

The Prints and Drawings Study Room houses our fine collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, comprising more than 1,000 works and six centuries of the draughtsman’s and printmaker’s arts.

The study room is open to researchers, students and the general public by appointment only.

For research enquires or to make an appointment please email: collections@barber.org.uk

Images inside the coin and print study room at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham.

We have outstanding drawings in our collection by varied artists such as Tess Jaray, Fra Bartolommeo, Rembrandt van Rijn, JMW Turner, Edgar Degas and Gwen John.

Prints include exceptional works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya, Italian and Flemish Renaissance masters and 19th-century and 20th-century artists from Pablo Picasso and Elizabeth Frink to Käthe Kollwitz.

Many of our prints and drawings can be viewed on our website, or on the University's Online Collections. We are still in the process of digitising our full collection of works on paper, so please bear with us.

A rotating selection of works on paper are displayed in our dedicated Print Bays (located in the Green and Beige galleries) – typically there are six print displays a year.

Explore our prints and drawings online:

Bartolommeo Biscaino (1632-1657)

Salome Italy Etching Plate: 220 x 180 mm; mount: 556 x 405 mm Purchased 1966 (No. 66.6)

Edward Lear (1812-1888)

Edward Lear Tabuan Parakeet British, 1832 Coloured lithograph Paper: 53.6 x 37.5 cm; mount: 71.5 x 53 cm  Purchased 2006 (No. 2006.4)

David Cox (1783-1859)

David Cox Travellers near Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Derbyshire, probably 1830s Watercolour with gum Arabic 26.5 x 36.5 cm Cox uses warm browns and reds to depict two men travelling through woodland towards Hardwick Hall, which can be seen in the distance. Hardwick, a celebrated Derbyshire country house built in the 1590s, was among Cox’s favourite … Read more

Owen McSwiny (1684-1754)

Owen McSwiny Tombeaux des princes, grands capitaines et autre hommes illustres qui ont fleuri dans la Grande Bretagne 1741 Engraving  Paper: 654 x 424 mm; mount: 812 x 608 mm Eight engravings from the series publishes by McSwiny in 1741. Engraved by N. Dorigny, I. Cars, L. Desplaces, N.D. de Beauvais, B. Lepicie and J.P. … Read more

Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878)

Charles-François Daubigny Interior of an Inn France, 1861 Etching Plate: 120 x 150 mm; paper: 270 x 223 mm; mount: 405 x 555 mm This interior shows the corridor of an inn lined with pairs of shoes and a broom, dramatically lit by a lamp. Daubigny also depicted this scene in daylight. The observation of … Read more

Valentin Le Febvre (1642-1680/2) after Titian (c.1488/90-1576)

Valentin Le Febvre after Titian Raccolta di opere scelte: The Holy Family and St Jerome Venice, published 1786 Engraving Title page and 59 engravings after mainly Venetian paintings published by Teodoro Viero, Venice, 1786. The majority of the plates are by Le Febvre, S. Maniago, A. Zucchi, and P. Monaco. Purchased in London, March 1956 … Read more

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664)

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione God the Father regarding the Infant Christ  Rome, 1645-7 Etching Plate: 260 x 200 mm, mount: 557 x 406 mm Castiglione represents the Holy Family as natural human figures. A plump infant Christ sleeps peacefully, watched by the Virgin Mary and an unusually tangible and human God. Catistiglione was greatly influenced by … Read more

Karel Dujardin (1621/2-1678)

Karel Dujardin A Shepherdess Talking to her Dog Dutch, 1653 Etching 190 x 220 mm (No. 57.9)

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (c. 1610-1663/5)

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione The Raising of Lazarus Etching 228 x 320 mm Purchased 1955 (No.55.2)

Augustus John (1878-1961)

Augustus John Nude Girl Standing London or Paris, about 1906 Etching 19 x 11.5 cm  A young naked woman stands with her knee upon a bed. Her pensive expression and downturned eyes suggest intimacy and naturalness. The loose, hastily etched lines highlight the mass and unevenness of her body rather than idealising her figure. The … Read more

Jan van de Velde (c.1593-1641)

Jan van de Velde The Seasons: Spring Enkhuizen, 1617 Etching Paper 265 x 350 mm; mount 405 x 557 mm This etching of a landscape during springtime in Holland is part of a series of the seasons made by Jan van de Velde in 1617. Jan van de Velde derived from a family of painters, engravers, etchers, and printmakers … Read more

Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685)

Adriaen van Ostade The Cobbler Dutch, 1671 Etching Plate: 180 x 150 mm; mount: 557 x 404 mm Purchased 1948 (No. 48.19)

Andrea Zucchi (1679 – 1740) after Titian (c.1488/90 – 1576)

Andrea Zucchi after Titian  Raccolta di opere scelte: St. John the Evangelist Engraving Title page and 59 engravings after mainly Venetian paintings published by Teodoro Viero, Venice, 1786. The majority of the plates are by Le Febvre, S. Maniago, A. Zucchi and P. Monaco. Purchased 1956 (No. 56.10/13)

John Sloan (1871-1951)

John Sloan Roofs, Summer Night (New York City Life Series) American, 1906 Etching Plate: 13.3 x 17.6 cm; sheet: 25.2 x 32.7 cm  Gifted by Delaware Art Museum and the Helen Farr Sloan Estate in 2017 (No. 2017.1/9)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir The Dance in the Country  France, date unknown Soft-ground etching Purchased 1959 (No. 59.9)

Franz Marc (1880-1916)

Franz Marc Lion Hunt (after Delacroix) Berlin, 1913 Woodcut on handmade Japanese paper 28.2 x 34 cm; mount: 63 x 51.5 cm  Marc uses the woodcut technique to simplify this composition, taken from a Delacroix (1798-1863) painting of 1855, so creating strong shapes that are typical of the German Expressionist style. The eye is drawn … Read more

John Sloan (1871-1951)

John Sloan Fun, One Cent (New York City Life Series) American, 1905 Etching Plate: 12.2 x 17.3 cm; sheet: 25.2 x 32.4 cm  Gifted by Delaware Art Museum and the Helen Farr Sloan Estate in 2017 (No. 2017.1/5)

Caspar Johann Nepomuk Scheuren (1818-1887)

Caspar Johann Nepomuk Scheuren The Castle by the Sea Düsseldorf, 1858 Watercolour over pen and pencil, partly heightened with white and gold 47.2 x 60.5 cm This depiction of Ludwig Uhland’s poem of the same name creates an atmosphere of melancholy and nostalgia typical of Romantic art. The king and queen, dressed in black in … Read more

Stefano della Bella (1610-1664)

Stefano della Bella Procession of the Feast of Corpus Christi outside the Palais Royal, Paris, 12 June 1648 Île-de-France, Paris, 1648 336 x 478 mm Crowds descend upon the Palais Royal for the Feast of Corpus Christi. The elaborately decorated pavilion and altar are flanked by huge tapestries of the apostles. The dowager Queen Anne … Read more

Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)

Edgar Degas Mademoiselle Malo Paris, the early 1870s Pastel on paper 52.2 X 41.1 cm Mademoiselle Malo has not been conclusively identified, but apparently she was a dancer at the Paris Opéra. Degas began to use pastel for portrait studies in the 1870s and this fine example is one of the earliest.  Degas appreciated the … Read more

Florentine (about 1500)

Unidentified Florentine artist St Jerome in the wilderness Florence, about 1500 Engraving Plate: 222 x 282 mm  Mount: 405 x 557 mm The scholar St Jerome retired to the Syrian Desert to live in seclusion as a hermit. He is depicted in a traditional manner; dishevelled and semi-naked, with a rock for beating his breast. … Read more

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

James Abbott McNeill Whistler La vieille aux loques (The Old Rag-Picker) London, 1858  Etching 20.6 x 14.6 cm  An old woman sits in a doorway absorbed in sorting rags. Although the rag picker is shown as poor and frail, her focus and disengagement from the viewer creates a calm and contemplative image. The framing device … Read more

Agostino Carracci (1557-1602)

Agostino Carracci Ecce Homo Bologna, 1587 Etching Paper: 45 x 34.4 cm; mount: 63 x 51.5 cm  Depicting a standard cycle of the Passion of Christ, the words ‘Ecce Homo’ (‘Behold the Man’) were used by Pontius Pilate to present Christ to the jeering crowds before his crucifixion. Mary swoons in the foreground, an unusual … Read more

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Zephyrus and Flora Venice, about 1750 Pen, brown wash and black chalk on paper 23.9 x 33 cm Tiepelo made this drawing as a study for the principal figures in the ceiling fresco he painted for the Room of Mirrors in the Palazzo Labia in Venice. He also produced a small oil … Read more

Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)

Jean-François Millet The Diggers France, unknown date Etching Two men are digging in an inhospitable landscape. Their strong shoulders, curved backs and widely planted legs suggest the strenuous nature of their task. Millet often regarded peasant figures as evoking a sense of eternal and timeless toil in an unforgiving world. He un-idealised visions were seen … Read more

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

Albrecht Dürer The Vision of the Seven Candlesticks  Nuremberg, 1511 Woodcut Paper: 392 x 282 mm; mount 556 x 405 mm After the death of Christ, his discipline John journeyed to Patmos to escape persecution. In the dark recesses of a cave, John witnessed a series of miraculous visions of the Apocalyptic Christ. Crucified for … Read more

Claude Mellan (1598-1688)

Claude Mellan The Face of Christ France, 1649 Engraving 476 x 361 mm The Face of Christ was made by Claude Mellan. It relates to the miracle of St. Veronica who, on the road to Calvary, wiped the perspiration off Jesus’s face and an image of his face was miraculously transferred on to the cloth. … Read more

John Crome (1768-1821)

John Crome Mousehold Heath Norfolk, 1810 Etching Plate: 230 x 305 mm; paper: 350 x 465 mm; mount: 405 x 555 mm Mousehold Heath is to the north east of Norwich. The barren landscape was a popular subject for local artists in the first half of the 19th century. In this view of the heath … Read more

Valentin Le Febvre (1642-1680/2) after Veronese (1528-1588)

Valentin Le Febvre after Veronese Raccolta di opere scelte: Faith (in Heaven, contemplating the day of his greatness with a sacrifice at his feet) Venice, published 1786 Engraving Title page and 59 engravings after mainly Venetian paintings published by Teodoro Viero, Venice, 1786. The majority of the plates are by Le Febvre, S. Maniago, A. … Read more

Jan van de Velde (c.1593-1641)

Jan van de Velde The Seasons: Autumn Enkhuizen, 1617 Etching Paper 265 x 350 mm; mount 405 x 557 mm This etching of a landscape during autumn in Holland is part of a series of the seasons made by Jan van de Velde in 1617. Jan van de Velde derived from a family of painters, engravers, etchers, and printmakers … Read more

Explore the collection

The Prints and Drawing Study Room was created with the financial support of the DCMS/Wolfson Museums Improvement Fund.

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