The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable Collection

23 May 2025 – 31 August 2026
Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20th Century Gallery, Floor 3

A selection of exceptional paintings from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, will go on view at the Courtauld Gallery for an extended display, while the Barber undergoes a major refurbishment project.  The Barber Institute of Fine Arts was founded as a university gallery in 1932, the same year as the Courtauld and its collection. Both were intended to encourage the study and public appreciation of art. Today, the Barber and the Courtauld Gallery are home to two of the finest collections of European art in the country.

Highlights from the collection at the Barber include important works such as Frans Hals’s Portrait of a Man Holding a Skull��(c. 1610-14), Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s Portrait of Countess Golovina��(1797-1800), Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Blue Bower��(1865), and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Woman in a Garden��(1890). In addition, a handful of paintings with strong links to 51��’s own collection will be embedded in the permanent collection displays, among them Joshua Reynolds’s monumental double portrait Maria Marow Gideon and her brother William��(1786-87).

This display is included in the Permanent Collection or Permanent Collection + Exhibition ticket.

23 May 2025 - 31 Aug 2026

10:00 – 18:00 (last entry 17:15)

20th Century Gallery Courtauld Gallery Somerset House

Included with Gallery Entry
Courtauld Members go free

Introducing The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Curator Tour

Highlights

Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) Portrait of Countess Golovine, Around 1800, Oil paint on canvas, 83.5-66.7 cm, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham.

Frans Hals (1581-1666), Portrait of a Man Holding a Skull, Around 1612, Oil paint on wood, 94 x 72.5 cm, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Claude Monet (1840-1926), The Church at Varengeville, 1882, Oil paint on canvas, 65 x 81.3cm, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), The Blue Bower, 1865, Oil paint on canvas, 84x 70.9 cm,The HenryBarber Trust, The BarberInstitute of Fine Arts,University of Birmingham

Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Jockeys before the Race, Around 1878–79, Oil paint, essence (thinned oil paint), opaque watercolour and pastel on paper, 107 x 73 cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), The Sun Setting through Vapour, Around 1809, Oil paint on canvas, 69.2 x 101.6 cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Symphony in White No.III, Around 1865-67, Oil paint on canvas, 51.4 x 76.9 cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Giovanni Bellini (around 1430 – 1516), St Jerome in the Wilderness, Around 1445–60, Egg tempera on wood, 44 x 29.9 cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Joshua Reynolds (1723 – 1792), Portrait of Maria Marow Gideon and her brother William, 1786/87, Oil paint on canvas, 240 x 148 cm. The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Courtauld Gallery Exhibitions

Seurat and the Sea

13 Feb - 17 May 2026

★★★★★ "Tremendous" - The Guardian; ★★★★★ "Pure joy" - The London Standard. Experience the first ever exhibition dedicated to the seascapes of the French artist Georges Seurat.