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Gallery Overhaul Sheds New Light on Works of Art
Visitors to the Barber Institute will now be able to look at the art collection in a new light — literally.
A full-scale refurbishment of the lighting has been taken place in the four main galleries over the summer months, meaning the works of art on display look better than ever.
A £50,000 grant was awarded to the Barber, based at the University of Birmingham’s Edgbaston campus, last summer under the Department of Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. Match funding was provided by the Henry Barber Trust.
Director Richard Verdi explained that he first noticed that the galleries’ lighting needed an overhaul when he visited Princeton University Art Museum in 2002 for the opening of the exhibition Anthony van Dyck: ‘Ecce Homo’ and ‘The Mocking of Christ’, which he curated and which transferred to the Barber Institute that October.
“Seeing how the exhibition looked at Princeton brought home just how inferior our own lighting was,” said Professor Verdi. “I knew then that the total overhaul of the lighting in our own galleries was top of the list of things I wanted to achieve as Director here.”
Contractors began work in mid July, working in one of the four galleries after the other so that the majority of the collection – and even a temporary exhibition, From Dürer to Kollwitz: German Works on Paper – could remain open to the public.
Paintings, sculpture, furniture and artefacts were removed from walls, floors and cabinets and put into storage so scaffolding could be wheeled in and new lighting could be installed.
Now work has been completed and the galleries are fully open again, visitors are remarking that individual pictures look fresher and more vibrant, with shadows minimised and atmospheric pools of light created around the rooms.
“Although it could be regarded as cosmetic, this refurbishment has improved the galleries fundamentally,” added Richard Verdi. “Visitors really will be able to enjoy the collection in a brighter light.”
| For further information, please contact Andrew Davies, Barber Press and Marketing Officer, on 0121 414 2946 or andrewdavies@barber.org.uk |