Fine art David Cox was a Birmingham watercolour artist and president of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810. An "Academy of Arts" was organised in 1814, and an exhibition of paintings took place in Union Passage that year. A School of Design, or "Society of Arts", was started February 7, 1821;
Sir Robert Lawley, Bt (the first Lord Wenlock) presenting a valuable collection of casts from
Grecian sculpture. The first exhibition was held in 1826, in a building on
New Street. The first Ballot for pictures to be chosen from the Annual Exhibition of Local Artists took place in 1835.
Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, spent his first twenty years in the city, and later became the president of the (later Royal)
Birmingham Society of Artists (which dates from 1826). He strongly influenced the
Birmingham Group, which formed the link between late Romanticism in the visual arts and the
Birmingham Surrealists who were prominent in the city's arts in the early and mid-20th century. The Scottish painter
William Gear (1915–97) had studied with
Fernand Léger in Paris and after World War 2 became the only British member of the Surrealist-influenced
COBRA, the most avant-garde movement of the time. Between 1964 and 1975 he was head of the Faculty of Fine Art at Birmingham College of Art and continued to live in the city until his death. The
Birmingham Arts Lab at
Gosta Green was an important centre for alternative comic art in the late 1970s; in the 1990s the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery staged a historical retrospective of the work made there.
Photography Victorian photographer
Sir Benjamin Stone (1838–1914) lived and worked in Erdington, Birmingham. The Birmingham Central Library now holds the Benjamin Stone Collection . The Victorian "father of art photography",
Oscar Gustave Rejlander lived and worked at nearby Wolverhampton, and was a founder member of the Birmingham Photographic Society. The BPS later elected
Henry Peach Robinson as a member. The photographer
Bill Brandt made an extensive series of photographs for the Bournville Village Trust in Birmingham, between 1939 and 1943. These have been published as the book
Homes Fit For Heroes (Dewi Lewis, 2004). The post-war changes in the cityscape, especially the clearance of older housing and the changes to the central markets, were documented by Phyllis Nicklin (1913?-1969). In late 1979, Derek Bishton (now Consultant Editor for
The Daily Telegraph), John Reardon (became Picture Editor of
The Observer), and Brian Homer were three community photographers and activists in Handsworth, and they facilitated the 'Handsworth Self Portrait' series of self-portraits on the streets of Handsworth, Birmingham. Other notable photographers include
Pogus Caesar, his
OOM Gallery Archive holds in excess of 14,000 photographic images from 1982–present. Caesar's recent exhibitions include
From Jamaica Row – Rebirth of the Bullring,
Muzik Kinda Sweet and
That Beautiful Thing, his work is represented in
Birmingham Central Library. Vanley Burke also created a major portfolio of British West Indian and African themed portrait and community photography from the 1970s to the 21st century. The city is home to famed fashion photographer Garazi Gardner.
Design and typography John Baskerville (1706–1775) was a noted type designer, the developer of wove paper, and typographic businessman in fine printing. His Baskerville font is still in wide use today. The
Birmingham Guild and School of Handicrafts operated a fine arts small-press, the Press of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft. From 1895 until 1919 this Press produced books in the
Kelmscott Press tradition of the
Arts and Crafts Movement. George Kynoch's
Kynoch Press (1876–1981) was a Birmingham printing house that substantially contributed to the development of a British typography. The teacher
Leonard Jay (1888–1963) made the Birmingham School of Printing a profound influence on a generation of typographers, and set the pattern for printing education worldwide. More recent small-press printers included F. E. Pardoe and David Wishart.
Robert Dudley Best (1892–1984), managing director of the lighting factory, Best & Lloyd, designed the "Bestlite" adjustable table lamp, which was first produced in 1930 and continues to be manufactured. Best was a member of the Design and Industries Association and was influenced by
Walter Gropius.
Contemporary artists Graffiti (or "spraycan art") culture appeared in the early 1980s, with the area featuring in
Channel 4 documentary
Bombing. Local artists who use urban Birmingham as their canvas (this is illegal, and regarded by some as vandalism) have included
Chu and
Goldie. Street art competitions are still regularly held at the Custard Factory. A variety of contemporary public art is located around the city centre, most of it created by artists from outside the Midlands. The construction of the
Bull Ring Shopping Centre included three light
wands which were erected at the main entrance, a huge mural on a glass
façade located at the entrance facing
New Street station and three fountains in St Martin's Square in the shape of
cubes, which are illuminated at night in different colours. Contemporary African-Caribbean artists and photographers who have exhibited internationally include
Pogus Caesar,
Keith Piper and the late
Donald Rodney.
Galleries •
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed at the
University of Birmingham and although only a small gallery it was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the Good Britain Guide 2004. • Birmingham has one of the largest collections of
Pre-Raphaelite art in the world at The
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. • The
Ikon Gallery is housed in a
neo-Gothic former school in
Brindleyplace and showcases
modern art.
Number 9 The Gallery is close by. • The
Halcyon Gallery is located inside the
International Convention Centre. It opened with a major retrospective of
Robert Lenkiewicz, and has continued with exhibitions by artists as diverse as
Rolf Harris and
L. S. Lowry. • The Waterhall gallery in the
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery displays a regular showcase of modern art which includes local artists and others sometimes from the city's own extensive collection. •
Harborne Gallery, the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and the 'New Gallery' in St Paul's square also shows local artists. • The old
Bird's Custard Factory is now one of the largest media and arts villages in Europe, with occasional exhibitions and modern
sculpture and water features. •
OOM Gallery online collaborates with the private, public and voluntary sector by developing and producing a diverse range of multimedia art projects. • The
mac hosts theatre performances, concerts, literature and poetry showcases, courses, film screenings and small art exhibitions. • The
Drum Arts Centre features works of African, Asian and Caribbean contemporary artists. •
Selly Oak ball park is home to many graffiti murals that change on a regular basis. Other graffiti art can be seen across the city on disused buildings and canal towpaths as well as subways. There are a variety of other small and private galleries in the city. ==Media==