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PRESS RELEASE
Barber Shows Masterpieces from ‘Behind Closed Doors’
Privately owned masterpieces by some of the most famous names in the history of art from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century are to go on public display together for the first time at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in the new year.
Behind Closed Doors: Birmingham’s Private Collections from Van Dyck to Cornelia Parker opens at the University of Birmingham-based art gallery on 25 January 2008.
The exhibition, the first of its kind in the West Midlands, ranges from a woodcut by Dürer of c.1505, through an impressive oil painting by Anthony van Dyck and studio, and watercolours by Turner and Delacroix. A beautiful portrait by Rossetti and an attractive Impressionist painting by Boudin also feature. Unusually for the Barber, the exhibition will include a host of 20th-century pictures by giants such as Picasso and Barbara Hepworth and even works by living artists, such as David Hockney, Paula Rego and Cornelia Parker. Paintings by Birmingham’s David Cox, Walter Langley and William Gear are also included.
The selection of almost 40 works is the culmination of more than two years’ research by the exhibition’s organizers, Barber Senior Curator Paul Spencer-Longhurst and guest co-curators Michael Cullen and Tessa Sidey. Works have come to light through word of mouth among informal galleries’ and collectors’ networks, resulting in visits by the team to more than one hundred private collections in the Birmingham postal area. Appeals were also issued in the regional media and to the Friends of the Barber Institute, which attracted a flood of visitors, bearing works of art of all kinds, for ‘drop-in’ sessions at the Barber and at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, where the curators assessed the works for possible inclusion in the exhibition.
Birmingham has a strong tradition of private art collections, many of which were built up in the nineteenth century on the foundations of industrial wealth. This exhibition holds a litmus paper to taste in the city, examining the historical context while also exploring contemporary preferences.
Dr Spencer-Longhurst said: “This exhibition seeks to redefine the nature and status of collecting in Birmingham today. The private collections we have visited, and from which we have been privileged to choose works, demonstrate that the practice is thriving in the city and has an exciting and diverse range.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue and a full programme of lectures and events for adults and children.
- There will be a press viewing of the exhibition on Friday 25 January from 11am to 3pm. Dr Spencer-Longhurst will give an introductory talk at 12.30pm in the gallery.
20 December 2007
Ends
| For further information, please contact Andrew Davies, Barber Press and Marketing Officer, on 0121 414 2946 or andrewdavies@barber.org.uk |