Bellows and the Body: The Real, the ideal and the Nude

In 2015 the Barber acquired Nude, Miss Bentham, 1906 (left), an early masterpiece by George Bellows, one of the most significant American painters of the early 20th century.

This striking figure study is only the second painting by Bellows in a UK public gallery and the first outside London. Bellows was associated with the Ashcan School: a group of artists who shared an interest in social realism and in expressing the modernity of life in New York City. Focusing on the human figure within and beyond the life class, this exhibition features fascinating paintings, prints, drawings and magazines lent by US and UK collections. It is a unique opportunity to get to know a remarkable artist, still little known on this side of the Atlantic.