The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, UK, is one of the finest small picture galleries in the world. It is home to a magnificent collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, objets d'art and coins, and may justly claim to be the most representative collection of Western artwork formed in Britain over the past 100 years. This stunning book, fully revised and updated, presents 120 of the finest works in the collection, with extended captions alongside glorious full-colour illustrations. Bellini, Rubens, Gainsborough and all the major Impressionist painters are represented. The story of each work is described in fascinating detail, placing it in a wider art-historical context.

Richard Verdi was Professor of Fine Art and Director of the Barber Institute between 1990 and 2007. He had previously taught the History of Art at the Universities of Manchester and York. Nicola Kalinsky has been the Director of the Barber Institute since 2013, following her role as Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland. Robert Wenley, Head of Collections and Learning at the Barber Institute since 2010, moved from Glasgow Museums, where he was the Curator of European Art, 1600-1800.