Birmingham Group

school c. 1890-1940 Birmingham England

The Birmingham Group was an informal collective of painters and craftsmen who gathered around the Birmingham School of Art after Edward R. Taylor reorganized its teaching in the 1880s. Emerging in the 1890s and never strictly constituted - it only acquired a membership secretary in the 1930s - the group formed one of the last outposts of late Romanticism in British art and a bridge between the Pre-Raphaelites and the Slade Symbolists. Heavily shaped by Edward Burne-Jones, John Ruskin and William Morris, its members - Joseph Southall, Charles March Gere, Arthur Gaskin and others - worked equally as painters and fine craftsmen, producing paintings, book illustration for the Kelmscott Press, metalwork and mural decoration. Several members later fed into the Birmingham Surrealists.

The former Birmingham School of Art building. Present day Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. On Margaret St, Birmingham, England.
The former Birmingham School of Art building. Present day Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. On Margaret St, Birmingham, England.Public domain (credit: GavinWarrins) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Late-Romantic, Pre-Raphaelite-derived figures drawn from legend, poetry and medieval romance
  • Arts and Crafts unity of fine art and craft - painting, metalwork and book design in one hand
  • Lush, jewel-like colour and meticulous draughtsmanship
  • Decorative, patterned compositions with an antique, storybook atmosphere
  • Burne-Jones's elongated figures combined with Ruskinian fidelity to natural detail

Key figures

  • Joseph Southall (1861-1944) — Leading painter of the group's richly coloured figure subjects
  • Charles March Gere (1869-1957) — Painter and illustrator; drew the Kelmscott Press frontispiece for News from Nowhere
  • Arthur Gaskin (1862-1928) — Painter and illustrator of the group's Arthurian and poetic subjects
  • Sidney Meteyard (1868-1947) — Painter and long-serving teacher at the Birmingham School of Art
  • Henry Payne (1868-1940) — Painter and muralist of medieval subjects

Example works

  • Hortus Inclusus — Joseph Southall (1898)
  • The Keepsake — Kate Bunce (1898)
  • Choosing the Red and White Roses in the Temple Garden — Henry Payne (1908)

Sources

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