Joseph Barber facts for kids

Joseph Barber (1757 – 16 July 1811) was an English artist. He was known for painting landscapes and teaching art. He was also an early member of the Birmingham School of landscape painters. This was a group of artists who painted beautiful outdoor scenes.

Early Life and Moving to Birmingham

Joseph Barber was born in a city called Newcastle upon Tyne. In the 1770s, when he was a young man, he moved to Birmingham. In Birmingham, he started working with art. He painted designs on special items like papier-mâché and japanned goods. These were decorative objects, often made from paper or wood, that looked like fancy lacquerware.

Becoming a Famous Art Teacher

Joseph Barber became a very important art teacher in Birmingham. By the mid-1780s, he was known as the city's first main drawing master. He opened his own art school, called an academy, on Great Charles Street. Many young artists learned from him there.

In 1798, he also began teaching drawing at the Free Grammar School on New Street. He held these classes in his own art studio. Some of his most famous students included David Cox, William Radclyffe, and Samuel Lines. Samuel Lines later started his own art school in 1807.

His Artistic Family

Joseph Barber had five children, and many of them followed in his artistic footsteps! His two sons, Vincent Barber and Charles Barber, both trained as painters at their father's academy. After Joseph's death in 1811, Vincent took over running the art school.

His daughters, Maria, Eliza, and Ann Matilda, were also artists. They showed their paintings and taught art to private students. Ann Matilda later became the mother of a famous religious scholar and bishop named Joseph Barber Lightfoot.

Founding New Art Schools

In 1809, Joseph's sons, Charles and Vincent Barber, teamed up with their father's former student, Samuel Lines. Together, they started a new art school. This school focused on "life drawing," which means drawing from real people. This new school eventually grew into two very important art institutions: the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and the Birmingham School of Art.

Joseph Barber's Art Style

Joseph Barber mostly created drawings and watercolour paintings. He loved to paint rustic landscape scenes. Many of his pictures showed the beautiful countryside of North Wales. He was one of the first artists from Birmingham to paint this area.

Today, you can see his artworks in famous museums. These include the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. His student, Samuel Lines, once wrote that Joseph Barber was a very talented artist. He was good at drawing people and painting landscapes. Most of his time was spent teaching drawing, often using Indian ink and light colours. This was a popular way to make watercolour drawings back then.