Founded by Lady Barber in 1932, the collection offers a brilliant survey of European painting from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries. It features outstanding paintings by such leading masters as Bellini, Rubens, Poussin, Canaletto, Magritte and Auerbach. There is a fine collection of works on paper to match, and groups of sculpture and decorative arts. The Barber building itself is a Grade I-listed Art Deco masterpiece, set amidst the University of Birmingham’s campus.
Art Unlocked is an online talk series by Art UK in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies. This Curation is based on a talk by Robert Wenley, Head of Collections and Deputy Director of The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, on 14th July 2021. You can find a recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY5lvkcRVkI
The Nativity c.1515–1520
Jan de Beer (c.1475–1528)
Oil on wood
H 137 x W 137 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Wrath of Ahasuerus c.1671–1673
Jan Steen (1625/1626–1679)
Oil on canvas
H 129 x W 167 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Marriage Feast at Cana c.1672
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)
Oil on canvas
H 179 x W 235 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Maria Marow Gideon and Her Brother, William 1786/1787
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792)
Oil on canvas
H 240 x W 148 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Portrait of an Old Woman c.1800–1805
José Campeche y Jordán (1751–1809)
Oil on canvas
H 105 x W 85 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Carolus-Duran (1838–1917) begun 1876
Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
Oil on canvas
H 191.8 x W 172.7 cm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts