As members of the Barber Association and the Department of Art History, Film and Visual Studies, our students get involved in the Barber Institute’s Picture of the Month Scheme.
This month (March), second year student and artist in her own right, Sarah Theobald picked Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Blue Bower which was painted in 1865.
Here is what she says about it:
“This painting is the reason why I chose to attend the University of Birmingham. I joined ‘The Pre-Raphaelite Society’ when I was fourteen and the thought of being able to study in the same building as this exquisite Rossetti, and see the painting as much as possible, was just too enticing.
The image is a truly striking example of the Pre-Raphaelites’ desire to achieve excellence in the minutest of detail. Rossetti himself said that it was filled with ‘opulence, sophistication of hue, and beguiling decoration.’
For me, it is one of the Barber’s triumphal acquisitions.”
The Blue Bower, 1865 (oil on canvas), Barber Institute of Fine Arts
You can find out more about the Blue Bower here and see it up in the Barber Galleries (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm and Sat-Sun 11am-5pm).
Watch this space for Sarah’s report on her gallery talk for the Barber’s display of miniatures!
