Barnham was born in 1939 and studied at Norwich School of Art. He was a teacher at Cambridge School of Art and makes beautiful prints and watercolours. He lives in Norfolk and is still active today.
Among his favourite subjects are landscapes with beautiful trees and also boats. Especially the interesting lines in the branches of trees attracts his attention and form an often-recurring theme in his work.
This colourful linocut is a great example of his work. It’s untitled but can be identified as Somerville College in Oxford. The scene is dominated by a large tree in the foreground. The gnarly branches create a dynamic and exciting print that is only strengthened by the use of the strong primary colours. In the background the Wolfson Building, a modernist, brutalist addition to Somerville college. The design contrasts sharply with the traditional college buildings but somehow the overall effect works well which is perfectly captured in this linocut where Barnham has given the buildings contrasting colours but used the red of the traditional buildings as accent colour in the new addition to help it all tie together.
The print is undated but this is likely to be one of Barnham’s earlier works, probably dating from the 1970s. It could possibly even date from as early as 1967 and may have been commissioned by Somerville College to celebrate the opening that year of the Wolfson Building.
What I like especially about this print is how it effortlessly combines two of my interests; Modern British Prints, and Brutalist Design.
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