Art Brum

Birmingham has always been a city of artists: inventors of Impressionism, Pre-Raphaelite painters, Arts and Craft embroiderers; Pop art pioneers, experimental Surrealists and street art activists. A hotbed of creative innovation and radical art practice for more than 200 years, Birmingham has changed British art history. But it’s a story that remains untold - until now. Since the nineteenth century, talented, self-made creatives were drawn to work in the world-renowned ‘city of a thousand trades’. Joining workshops as designers, illustrators and jewellers, these skilled artists soon sought other outlets for their creativity. They opened schools, established societies and art classes, and launched modern art movements. Today, the city continues to be at the forefront of contemporary art. In ‘Art Brum’, Birmingham-based art critic and writer Ruth Millington selects fifty masterpieces by fifty of the city’s most important artists, from the nineteenth century to the present day. David Cox, Edward Burne-Jones, Conroy Maddox, Georgie Gaskin and Gillian Wearing are amongst the artists included. From painting to collage, sculpture to street art, ‘Art Brum’ uncovers Birmingham’s art history through the artworks that made it.