James Barry

1741–1806

James Barry, ‘King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia’ 1786–8 — King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia 1786–8
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In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1780

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

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Biography

James Barry (11 October 1741 – 22 February 1806) was an Irish painter, best remembered for his six-part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Because of his determination to create art according to his own principles rather than those of his patrons, he is also noted for being one of the earliest romantic painters working in Britain, though as an artist few rated him highly until the fully comprehensive 1983 exhibition at the Tate Gallery led to a reassessment of this "notoriously belligerent personality", who emerges as one of the most important Irish Neoclassical artists. He was also a profound influence on William Blake.

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Artworks

James Barry, ‘King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia’ 1786–8

James Barry King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia

1786–8

On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T00556

James Barry, ‘Satan, Sin and Death’ c.1792–1808

James Barry Satan, Sin and Death

c.1792–1808

View by appointment T06578

James Barry, ‘Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida’ c.1804–5

James Barry Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida

c.1804–5

View by appointment T06584

James Barry, ‘The Temptation of Adam’ 1776–c.1790

James Barry The Temptation of Adam

1776–c.1790

View by appointment T06571

James Barry, ‘The Birth of Venus’ 1776–1808

James Barry The Birth of Venus

1776–1808

View by appointment T06579

James Barry, ‘The Thames, or the Triumph of Navigation’ first published 1792

James Barry The Thames, or the Triumph of Navigation

first published 1792

T03785

James Barry, ‘The Phoenix or the Resurrection of Freedom’ 1776–1808

James Barry The Phoenix or the Resurrection of Freedom

1776–1808

View by appointment T06572

James Barry, ‘The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts’ first published 1792

James Barry The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts

first published 1792

T03786

Artist as subject

James Barry Self-Portrait, Three Quarters to Left

date not known

View by appointment T10438

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Perspective and Art History, from Matthew Pilkington and James Barry’ c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Perspective and Art History, from Matthew Pilkington and James Barry

c.1809

View by appointment D07435

Film and audio

Still image of King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry

King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry

RSC actor, Greg Hicks reflects on the complexities of Shakespeare's tragic hero and how the artist has explored these ...

Still image of King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry

King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry

Tate curator, Tim Batchelor, talks about composition and the visual storytelling that appear in this picture.

Features

Sir Joshua Reynolds, ‘Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen’ 1773

Art Term

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism was a particularly pure form of classicism that emerged from about 1750

William Blake, ‘Frontispiece to ‘Visions of the Daughters of Albion’’ c.1795

Art Term

Romanticism

Term in use by the early nineteenth century to describe the movement in art and literature distinguished by a new ...

William Blake, ‘The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan’ c.1805–9

Tate Papers

William Blake’s 1809 Exhibition

David Blayney Brown and Martin Myrone

This paper introduces the 1809 London exhibition that William Blake organised of his own works, exploring its high ambition and ...

William Blake, ‘The Penance of Jane Shore in St Paul’s Church’ c.1793

Tate Papers

An Alternative National Gallery: Blake’s 1809 Exhibition and the Attack on Evangelical Culture

Susan Matthews

This essay suggests that Blake’s 1809 exhibition was haunted by the memory of the Irish painter James Barry (1741 ...

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