January 2017 saw the long anticipated launch of Bob Barkers museum collection Northern Light at Leeds City Museum. Titled Northern Light the piece is a stunning original oil depicting a time from yesteryear and captures the evocative and dramatic northern light that Barker creates using his limited colour pallet.
You can also view the latest limited edition artworks from this stunning collection online and in the Artmarket gallery where we also have some rare boutique prints which are editions of just 50.
Wielding a near monochrome palette that is alive with dark intense shadows and pure white light, allows Barker to create an immense depth within each piece. However, it is not just the light that makes these pieces of artwork stand out, it is the poignancy of the memories it evokes, the nod to day to day living, and the stories that drive this collection. Barker comments “When I paint it’s almost – at least through my eyes – as if this northern light pours from my brush onto the canvas.” A Yorkshire man born and bred, nostalgia spurs him to paint the early years he remembers with such fondness. Viewed in its entirety, the Northern Light collection illustrates and preserves forever key life themes and values. In capturing these moments in time, Bob has produced some of his finest work to date; a combination of the experienced artist painting from the heart, and paying respect to the north that made him the man he is today. “The echoes of my past become my future paintings.”
Cobbled Together features a loving couple sheltering from the misty drizzle under matching scarlet umbrellas – it’s a recurring theme through Bob Barker’s work, and nowhere more gorgeously realised than in this image with its shimmering cobbled street and glowing gas lamps. Where others see dull brick, soot-blackened stone and polluted skies, Bob Barker sees light and colour. Nowhere is that artistic vision more clearly displayed that in Window of Opportunity – just what are those three boys talking about as they look at that square of orange light glowing amidst the grey surroundings?
Window Of Opportunity was recently seen in the Leeds City Museum exhibition of Bob’s work, Northern Light. It’s available as an individual giclée-on-paper print, or as part of a Northern Light portfolio of four images presented in an exclusive collectors’ presentation wallet.
All In Good Time - They’re in no great hurry despite the weather: another of Bob Barker’s images portraying a close couple facing their future together, hands linked and matching crimson brollies keeping them dry in a downpour. All In Good Time is available from the Artmarket Gallery as either a framed or mounted canvas-on-board print.
Give Us A Light Mate - Bob Barker pays tribute to the warmth and camaraderie of the brave men who fought in the First World War in Give Us A Light Mate. His trademark pearly sky illuminates a touching scene of comrades in arms sharing what little they have in difficult circumstances. Give Us A Light Mate is available from the Artmarket Gallery as either a framed or mounted canvas-on-board print.