- Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Infobox Museum
name = Barber Institute of Fine Arts
imagesize = 200
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established = 1932
location =Edgbaston ,Birmingham
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director = Ann Sumner
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website = http://www.barber.org.ukThe Barber Institute of Fine Arts is anart gallery andconcert hall inBirmingham ,England . It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of theUniversity of Birmingham .The Grade II listed
Art Deco building was designed by Robert Atkinson in the 1930s and opened in 1939 by Queen Mary. The layout of the museum is centred around a central concert hall which is surrounded by lecture halls, offices and libraries on the ground floor and art galleries on the first floor.In the 2005
Penguin Books publication "Britain's Best Museums and Galleries", the Barber Institute was one of only five galleries outside London to receive five stars for having "Outstanding collections of international significance" (the others were theNational Gallery of Scotland ,Oxford University 'sAshmolean Museum ,Cambridge University 'sFitzwilliam Museum and theWalker Art Gallery ,Liverpool ). [Fisher, Mark "Britain's Best Museums and Galleries: From the Greatest Collections to the Smallest Curiosities", Penguin Books, 2005 ISBN 0141019603]Location and history
The Institute is located 5 km southwest of the city centre at the East Gate of the university campus and has one of the most outstanding collections of art assembled in Britain in the 20th century, including works by
Gwen John ,André Derain ,Fernand Léger ,René Magritte andEgon Schiele . It was set up by DameMartha Constance Hattie Barber in memory of her husbandWilliam Henry Barber , a wealthy property developer andsolicitor who made his fortune expanding Birmingham's sprawling suburbs.By his mid-thirties the couple had retired but their connections with the city remained strong. In 1924 William Henry Barber received a
baronetcy for 'Political Services to Birmingham'.He died three years later. Lady Barber decided to make a permanent contribution to the city in his memory. In 1932, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts was established, and was bequeathed to the University 'for the study and encouragement of art and music'. Lady Barber died 4 months later leaving all of her assets to the trustees of the Institute. This money was used to expand the collection and fund the construction of a new building. In order to ensure that only artworks of the highest quality were bought for the Barber Institute, its founding trust deed stipulated that all purchases should be 'of that standard of quality as required by the National Gallery and the
Wallace Collection '.Collections
.
The collections of French
impressionism andpost-impressionism include artworks by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gauguin. Among the British artists represented areAubrey Beardsley , Gainsborough, Reynolds, Rossetti and Turner. There is also a fine collection ofsculpture (including works by Rodin and Degas) and of portraitminiature s and "objets d'art". Standing at the entrance is anequestrian statue of George I, the oldest public sculpture in Birmingham.The institute also has one of the world's largest coin collections, especially of Roman and Byzantine coins. This outstanding collection was supplemented in 1967 with 15,000 coins, from
Phillip Whitting andGeoffrey Haines . Many concerts take place at the Barber throughout the year, as well as amusic festival which is held in June.References
* [http://www.barber.org.uk/pr081203.html Barber Institute was 'Gallery of the Year' in 2004]
External links
* [http://www.barber.org.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.youricons.macrojuice.com/content/blogcategory/13/128/ Your Icons ] Highlights from the Barber Institute collection
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.