The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, named after Sir William Henry Barber, is an art gallery and concert hall located on the campus of The University of Birmingham near to the East Gate.
The Place:
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts was founded by Dame Martha Constance Hattie Barber in 1932 in memory of her husband, Sir William Henry Barber.
The Art Deco building designed by Robert Atkinson, is Grade I listed
and was officially opened in 1939 by Queen Mary.
When it opened the Barber housed a collection of 16 paintings, 31 drawings and watercolours, 19 prints and 3 sculptures.
The building was awarded an Architecture Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1946.
The Grade I description of the building by Historic England reads as follows;
"The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, of 1935–1939 by Robert Atknison, extended in the 1960s and 1980s. Sculptural work by George Atkinson.
MATERIALS: the building is built of brick with steel beams supporting a concrete floor, faced in Himley brick and Darley Dale stone, with a glass roof covering of the 1980s.
PLAN: the Institute as originally built is roughly square on plan. The music auditorium is placed at the centre of the building, with rooms and galleries organised around it on each level. The building was extended to the north-west in the 1960s.
EXTERIOR: the building is characterised by the contrasting materials of its facades, with the basement and ground floors of ashlar stone and upper storey of brick. The lower floors have windows which light the rooms within; windows throughout are metal framed casements. The brick upper facades are blind where they conceal the originally top-lit gallery spaces inside. There are four carved panels at the upper floor level, one to each of the west and east facades and two to the south. These have carved motifs showing a laurel branch, a palm leaf, a torch and a lyre which symbolise the arts, merit, education and music.
There are continuous stringcourses around the building between ground and first floors, and again beneath the continuous parapet. The parapet has recessed square panels which are plain with filleted bands between them apart from where they coincide with the carved first floor panels below. At these sections, the detailing is sections of Greek key motif in an Art Deco style.
The principal façade of the building is its entrance front which faces east, looking out across the open space where the adjacent statue of King George I is sited. The main entrance is house in a monumental square arch at the northern end of the building, approached via a wide flight of steps. The steps are flanked by large stone platforms on which stand stone vases with carved chevron detailing. The entrance doors themselves are recessed within the arch; the tall doors have sections of square panels with central roundels, and secondary glazed doors with glazing bars which repeat the Art Deco style Greek key motif. Above the door is an inscription in gold lettering which reads, ‘UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM BARBER INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS A D MCMXXXV’. The arch is flanked by carved panels with coats of arms. At the upper floor the brickwork is laid in a herringbone pattern, with different shades of brick to highlight the chevrons.
The south-eastern corner of the building has a further carved panel, which curves around the corner itself, with the inscription in gold lettering ‘BARBER INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS’. The southern elevation has a bowed central projection which denotes the lecture theatre within. To the western, rear side of the building, is the students entrance and rear service yard, and a bowed projection of the main stair in the building. The northern side of the building has continuous windows at ground floor level; the windows at first floor which originally lit the tapestry gallery are now infilled. This section is slightly recessed between small towers which rise above the parapet. At the north-western corner is the 1960s extension, in much the same style as the original.
INTERIOR: the main entrance opens into a long hall, with the main stair closing the vista at the far end. The floor here is of Travertine, as are the door surrounds and the stair itself. This hall is side-lit with full height windows, opposite which are the main doors into the central auditorium. Between these doors is a commemorative plaque beneath a portrait of Lady Barber.
The auditorium doors are of Australian walnut with satin inlaid maple which repeats the Greek key motif. The auditorium itself, which seats 364 people, is panelled throughout in the Australian walnut with crescent festoons around the upper levels. The ceiling steps up, echoing the rake of the floor, towards the stage, and has panels of coffered squares. The proscenium has further panelling and repeats of the Greek key motif. The seating in the auditorium is original, although recovered.
The remainder of the ground floor corridors have original linoleum flooring and oak to the door surrounds. Off these corridors are the bathroom facilities which retain original wall and floor coverings. There are offices and teaching rooms as well as the lecture theatre and library, both of which retain original bespoke furniture and fittings by Gordon Russell.
The basement floor has more offices and what originally was the caretakers’ flat. Music practice rooms here have baize doors. This level is accessed by a secondary stair with simple metal handrail.
The gallery spaces at first floor level are approached via the main stair. This starts with a wide flight filling the width of the main entrance hall, which then narrows as it rises, incorporating a turn-table supporting a sculpture. The stair sweeps in a curve to the first floor with walls clad in Travertine, with another sculpture-supporting turntable at the top.
The galleries are laid in the ranges around the auditorium, with wedge-shaped display spaces in the three original galleries. These have oak flooring laid in a herringbone pattern in central areas, with further oak to the low dados, doors and wide surrounds at the openings between the galleries. These openings also have bands of Travertine. The ceilings are flat down the central section, and rise above each ‘wedge’ where they were originally top-lit. The original tapestry gallery has been altered to provide further space for hanging paintings."
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The Person:
"Sir William Henry Barber, 1st Baronet (9th November 1860 – 2nd July 1927), known as Henry Barber, was a wealthy solicitor and property developer who made his fortune expanding Birmingham's sprawling suburbs.
Henry was born in Handsworth and was the eldest son of a master jeweller. He grew up in the city's Jewellery Quarter before training as a solicitor.
In 1893, he married Martha Constance Hattie Onions, who was an heiress, daughter of Simon Brookes Onions, of the Birmingham family of bellowsmakers, J. C. Onions (later, Alldays and Onions Engineering Company).
By his mid-thirties the couple had retired but their connections with the city remained strong.
Henry donated the original marble statue to Queen Victoria in Victoria Square, Birmingham in 1897. Designed by Thomas Brock it was unveiled on 10th January 1901, twelve days before the death of the Queen.
In the 1924 Henry Barber was created a baronet, of Culham Court in the County of Berkshire, for 'Political Services to Birmingham'."
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"In 1923, Sir Henry endowed a Chair of Law at the University of Birmingham and, one year later, he was appointed a Life Governor of the University. Though the Barbers made other benefactions to the city of Birmingham, the University was to be the principal recipient of their generosity." SOURCE: (
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