I visited this gallery last Friday and was amazed at the quality of the 19th Century painting which they have. There's a fine version of Ford Madox Brown's "The Last of England", almost identical to that held by the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge:
There's what must be almost a full size water-colour study for Burne Jones' "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid":
There's Millais's "The Blind Girl:
There's a half size copy by Ford Madox brown of his "Work", the original of which hangs in Manchester:
This is Rossetti's final version of "Beata Beatrix", left unfinished at his death in 1882:
All these and many other fine Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Birmingham's modern collection is much sparser, and the very recent stuff is mostly the usual rubbish that will probably be in a skip within 20 years (we can but hope), but there is a reconstruction of Epstein's amazing "Rock Drill" from 1913 - twelve feet high and very imposing:
There's what must be almost a full size water-colour study for Burne Jones' "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid":
There's Millais's "The Blind Girl:
There's a half size copy by Ford Madox brown of his "Work", the original of which hangs in Manchester:
This is Rossetti's final version of "Beata Beatrix", left unfinished at his death in 1882:
All these and many other fine Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Birmingham's modern collection is much sparser, and the very recent stuff is mostly the usual rubbish that will probably be in a skip within 20 years (we can but hope), but there is a reconstruction of Epstein's amazing "Rock Drill" from 1913 - twelve feet high and very imposing:
Finally a couple of works from about the same period. First is C R W Nevinson's "Column on the March" from about 1915 - stunning, and I've never seen it before:
And from a few years later, Munnings' "Arrival at Epsom Downs for Derby Day":
(Originally published 22/08/2010)
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