Image: Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham is preparing a new display for Jean (Hans) Arp’s 1958 bronze sculpture ‘Homme vu par une fleur’, as the University of Birmingham gallery works towards reopening its transformed spaces. The small, tactile work will be installed in a bespoke case alongside modernist sculptures by Henry Moore and Naum Gabo.
The sculpture is the Barber’s featured ‘Masterpiece of the Month’. Its compact scale and rounded, abstract form give it an unusually intimate physical presence: the institute describes it as small enough to invite viewers to imagine picking it up and turning it around. The work’s title, ‘Homme vu par une fleur’, translates as ‘Man Seen by a Flower’.
Arp described his practice as ‘biomorphic’, a term referring to organic shapes inspired by nature rather than realistic representations of it. The Barber says the sculpture’s abstract form and poetic title also reflect Arp’s association with the Surrealist movement. In ‘Homme vu par une fleur’, the bronze’s curved and simplified form brings those interests together without presenting a recognisable human or botanical figure.
The planned re-display forms part of preparations for the reopening of the Barber’s galleries. The institute has not announced a reopening date in the supplied material, but says the Arp sculpture will occupy a new bespoke case and be shown with works by Moore and Gabo. The arrangement will place Arp’s biomorphic abstraction within a focused modernist sculptural grouping.
The Barber is also piloting work on three-dimensional scans of elements of its collections. The project could support the creation of a handling version of the Arp sculpture, although the institute presents this as a possibility rather than a confirmed outcome. The work is part of the gallery’s wider exploration of sensory interpretation, alongside its plans for a redesigned display.
The institute is continuing to deliver some public programming away from its galleries during the building transformation. Its 2026 family workshops are being held at The Exchange, the University of Birmingham’s city-centre venue, and are designed for children aged four to 10 and their grown-ups. A workshop titled ‘Reimagine the Archive: Reimagine the Barber Art Gallery’ will take place there on 12 September from 11am to 3pm as part of Birmingham Heritage Month. It will use artworks from the Barber Collection and previously unseen archive images as the basis for collage, drawing and assemblage activities.
The Barber Institute is part of the University of Birmingham and is located on the university’s Edgbaston campus. Its collections include paintings, drawings, prints, coins, sculpture and decorative art. The date for the return of ‘Homme vu par une fleur’ to its new case has not been specified.
