Opening hours

Tue - Sat: 10am - 4:45pm
Closed: Sundays, Mondays and Bank Holidays

Extraordinary closures

Please note that the museum will be closed as detailed below:

Mummy on the move!
The Egyptian gallery will be closed from the 28 April. The Mummy will reappear when the new Ancient Civilisations gallery opens on the 8 June

Thursday 24 May
The Philbrick Fine Art Gallery will be closed from 2pm for lecture preparations.

Thursday 27 September
The Philbrick Fine Art Gallery will be closed from 2pm for lecture preparations.

Saturday 24 November
The Museum and Library will be closed for the RIC Members Only day.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

A retrospective of  the work of Sir Claude Francis Barry

5 February - 4 June

Born in 1883 Sir Claude Francis Barry was the oldest son of an aristocratic, industrial family.  Defying his parents’ wishes he became a painter, training first as a realist in Newlyn, tutored by Alfred East, then later moving to St Ives where he became an active member of the St Ives Art Club.  Barry was embraced by the artistic establishment and by the age of 23 was exhibiting with London’s prestigious Royal Academy.  Over the next decade he showed with the R.A., the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of Scottish Artists and the Salon des Artistes.

Barry was forced into the studio at the outbreak of World War I and his painting style evolved as he became less inclined to realism and more involved in colour and form.  His family background in design and engineering provided him with a good grounding in exploring French pointillism and especially British vorticism.  

In the 1920s he left England for Europe where he remained until the outbreak of the Second World War.  During this time he honed the skills as an etcher that he learned under the tutelage of Sir Frank Brangwyn, making images both precise and atmospheric, which were well received in the Paris Salon.  He was awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for his work in both France and Italy and amongst his diverse patrons were Queen Mary, Neville Chamberlain and Mussolini. 

As well as producing etchings from the early 1900s until the second world war Barry continued to paint, approaching colour with what was essentially divisionist philosophy, separating colour and using clear, unmixed colours to maximise luminosity.

Moving around Europe in the 20s and 30s, he painted and etched prolifically and became inspired by the technical challenges of depicting dusk and darkness.  This, in addition to his keen interest in astrology is evident in many of his night-time works.    On the outbreak of war in 1939 Barry returned to St Ives and, giving up etching, concentrated on oils.  Later, having moved to Jersey, his work continued with more emphasis made on figurative paintings and working with a minimalist style to producing blocks of colour and sinuous, pared-down shapes.  There, he became part of the “Phoenix Group”; comprising the well known Jersey artist Edmund Blampied; John More, Barry’s pupil Tom Skinner and his twin brother Jean Jacques.

A constantly evolving style over six decades has made Barry, despite his reticence about promoting his work, a feature in many of the finest shows of his time. 

Please note the museum is closed all day on Monday 7 March and this gallery will be closed for lectures on Thursday 10 March from 1pm.