The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, UK, boasts a magnificent collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures and objets d’art, all acquired by purchase since the late 1930s. Founded in 1932 by Dame Martha Constance Hattie Barber ‘for the study and encouragement of art and music’ in memory of her husband Sir Henry William Barber, a wealthy Birmingham property developer and solicitor, the proviso was to purchase works of art ‘of that standard and quality required by the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection’. The result is one of the finest small picture galleries in the world and the most representative collection of Western art assembled in Britain in the 20th century. Completely revised and updated, this glorious book presents 115 of the finest works in the collection, all illustrated in full colour. These date from antiquity to the mid-20th century and include masterpieces by many of the greatest names in the history of art, including Bellini, Rubens, Rembrandt and all the major Impressionist painters. The works are presented chronologically, and each is described by means of an extended caption, which places it within the wider art-historical context.