The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

A bus ride through the city takes you to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham. The institute owes its existence to the vision of Lady Martha Constance Hattie Barber.

She was the daughter of a wealthy Worcestershire businessman who married a Birmingham solicitor and property developer, William Henry Barber, who went by the name Henry.

According to the Barber Institute website,

"Henry made his fortune expanding the suburbs of Birmingham and by his mid thirties he and Lady Barber were able to retire to Culham Court, an 18th-century estate in Oxfordshire. However, the couple maintained a close contact with Birmingham, Henry was an original subscriber to the endowment fund set up by Joseph Chamberlain to establish the University of Birmingham, and he went on to endow chairs of Law and Jurisprudence, eventually becoming a Life Governor. In 1924 Henry received a baronetcy “for political services to Birmingham” and he died three years later. Before his death, Sir Henry and Lady Barber had discussed establishing a permanent contribution to Henry’s home city, and Lady Barber ensured that this idea came to fruition, founding the Barber Institute in 1932. She died, childless, four months later, leaving the entire Barber fortune to the Trustees of the Institute to enable the construction of a new building, the development of the art collection and the funding of public concerts.

The pieces on display skew toward religious art and art of the 16th-17th century, but the galleries are generally arranged in chronological order. Here are some of my favorites.

Portrait of a Man, aged 40 by Anthonis Mor van Dashort, about 1516/19:

Abd al-Wahid bin Mas ud Bin Muhammed bin Anuri, Moroccan Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I, by Unknown artist:

I find the portrait above fascinating. The Ambassador is believed to be the person upon whom Shakespeare based the character of Othello. This portrait is probably the earliest surviving painting of a Muslim sitter made in England.

Bust of Cardinal Richelieu by Jean Varin, cast in 1641:

A Landscape in Flanders by Peter Paul Rubens, about 1635-40:

Self Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 1640s:

Vesuvius in Eruption by Joseph Wright of Derby, about 1777-80:

No British museum can be without a Turner. This one is The Sun Setting Through Vapour, about 1809.

Ditto Gainsborough. This is A Portrait of the Honourable Harriot Marsham, late 1770s.

Maria Marow Gideon and her Brother, William by Joshua Reynolds, 1786-87:

If you ever watched Changing Rooms on BBC America you might agree with me that William bears a bit of a resemblance to Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

A Portrait of Carolus-Duran by Edouard Manet, 1876:

The Peacock Feather by Antonio Mancini, 1875:

I found this small painting so moving. A Mother and Child by the Sea by Johan Christian Dahl, 1840:

A Woman Seated in a Garden by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, 1890:

A Young Woman Seated by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876-77:

Man Seen by a Flower by Jean Hans Arp, 1958:

The Flavour of Tears by Rene Magritte, 1948:

I wish I could have photographed some of these from a straight-on angle, but so many of them are covered in glass which is very reflective. If anything strikes you as interesting, I urge you to Google it to get a better look and learn more.