The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable Collection

i Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), Countess Golovina, 1797-1800, oil on canvas, 83.5 x 63.7 cm, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

23 May 2025 – 22 Feb 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 from May 2025, while The Barber undergoes a major refurbishment project. The Barber and The Courtauld were both founded in 1932 as university galleries, designed to encourage the study and public appreciation of art. Today, they house two of the finest collections of European art in the UK.

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 The Courtauld’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).

23 May 2025 - 22 Feb 2026

10:00 – 18:00 (last entry 17:15)

20th Century Gallery  The Courtauld Gallery 

Included with Gallery Entry
Courtauld Friends go free

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), Countess Golovina, 1797-1800, oil on canvas, 83.5 x 63.7 cm, The Henry Barber Trust, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Join the art movement

Get free, unlimited entry to our permanent collection and exhibitions, plus Courtauld Lates, access to presales, members’ tickets, early morning views, exclusive events, discounts and more.

Become a Friend
The dark green Courtauld Friends logo on a yellow background

You might also like

The houses of parliament in the fog, with an orange sun and purple sky reflecting on the river Thames

Exhibition, The Courtauld Gallery, What's On Highlights

Monet and London. Views of the Thames

27 Sept 2024 – 19 Jan 2025

An exhibition reuniting for the first time in 120 years an extraordinary group of Claude Monet’s Impressionist paintings of London, depicting Charing Cross Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament....

Exhibition, The Courtauld Gallery, What's on Highlights

Abstract Erotic

20 Jun - 14 Sept 2025

This major exhibition brings together the erotic and playful aspects of the work of Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams to ask important questions about sexuality, bodies and humour....

Citations