The Barber in London: Highlights from a Remarkable Collection

23 May 2025 – 22 Feb 2026
Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20th Century Gallery

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).

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

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