Barry John Raybould, M.A. (Cantab.), is a true Renaissance man. Born in Stourbridge, England, in 1956, he was educated at Cambridge University, where he was awarded a First Class Honours degree in engineering. He has dedicated his life to art as a professional artist, winning many awards, and to a mission to discover the secrets of what makes a master painting.

After moving to California in the late 90s, he became one of the group of Central Coast California plein air artists known as the ‘Informalists’ and was elected as an artist member of the prestigious California Art Club, one of the oldest professional art organisations in the United States. In 2007, he left the United States and started a series of extensive painting expeditions around the world, spending much time in China to expand his artistic ideas to encompass the principles of Eastern as well as Western aesthetics. He has written articles for many art magazines, including International Artist Magazine and Plein Air Magazine. His latest book on the science of art will shortly be published in China and distributed as a major teaching resource throughout their extensive art university system.

In parallel with his visits to China, he also makes frequent painting expeditions to Tuscany, Italy, where he paints the landscape and maintains an art studio. He currently lives in Montenegro, exploring the artistic possibilities of its magnificent landscapes.

In much the same way that Leonardo da Vinci in Renaissance Italy researched the science behind beauty, Barry’s approach to art is unique in that he challenges much of contemporary art philosophy and instead adopts a multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates the latest neuroscience and evolutionary biology that underlies our experience of art.

His mission in life has been to restore beauty to our world and catalyse a second Renaissance in painting for the 21st century, but this time based on hard science, rather than mere opinion or the prevailing fashions of the art world.

Barry’s artwork has won numerous awards and been exhibited in several museums worldwide, including the Monterey Museum of Art and Pasadena Museum of California Art in the United States and the Weifang Art Museum in China.

A full list of awards, juried exhibitions, and solo shows can be found on Barry John Raybould's website.

Barry’s first major art project, which he started in the late 90s, was to capture all the world’s knowledge on how to paint in a single knowledge base, encompassing not just the traditional methods of the French Salon but also 20th-century modern art design theory and knowledge from both Eastern and Western aesthetics. Collating information from numerous sources, including many now out-of-print books, the final result was a massive knowledge base of painting principles running to over 1500 pages. In 2003 he founded an online art school called the Virtual Art Academy in order to make this information available to art lovers worldwide.

Today, the Virtual Art Academy serves two primary audiences. The first consists of retired professionals who wish to devote their second lives to the creative pursuit of painting while developing a deeper understanding of the masterpieces and artistic traditions they encounter in museums and galleries around the world. The second includes both young and mature emerging artists who seek a solid grounding in the fundamental principles of painting in order to build successful professional careers in the fine arts. Through its comprehensive curriculum, the Academy provides students with the technical skills, aesthetic knowledge, and creative confidence needed to grow as artists and to engage more meaningfully with the rich heritage of visual culture.

Online art school website.

Visual Music & Poetry – The How (2026): Painting in the 21st Century and the Science behind It.

Visual Music & Poetry - The Why (to be published 2026) Painting in the 21st Century and the Science Behind It.