The Barnes Has Left the Building

Earlier this week, I had a chance to be one of the last visitors to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. What a change from my earlier visits in the late 1970's, when visitors had to pass review when they wrote to request a visit. I had come then with my fellow art history students and Dr. Maurice Cope, late of the University of Delaware. He was not allowed to "lead" his students and lecture, since art historians were looked upon as being counter to the ideas of the late Dr. Albert Barnes, who had his own ideas about art which were anti-scholarly. This week, there were capacity crowds, with 2 hour visits by ticket available to the lucky visitors. This made it difficult to get near to many paintings, especially those included on an audio tour. If my friends had not had someone else cancel out at the last minute, my last memories of the Barnes would be from many years ago.

The paintings are hung in patterns on the wall, interspersed with early Pennsylvania hinges, andirons, and furniture, almost in the Victorian fashion, with some being high up on the wall. An oblong piece might be in the center of a group with small square pieces on each side and oval pieces alongside these, accented by ironwork.

So what is the big kerfuffle about, since Barnes died in 1951? Well, his will stipulated that his collection of art, which includes over 100 paintings by Renoir of varying quality, remain exactly as he left it. But the museum is closing July 3, with the collection eventually moving to a new building on the Parkway in nearby Philadelphia. This controversial decision is highlighted in The Art of the Steal, a documentary whose trailer is online and gives glimpses of the artworks http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi852362265/

The building itself was designed by Paul Cret in 1923. On the exterior, he commissioned Jacques Lipchitz to carve seven bas-relief sculptures for the Gallery and residence. The inside features a wonderful series of playful lunettes by Matisse. Since the story is that the interior will be re-created in Philadelphia, they will have to somehow move the lunettes, which are painted on the wall.

For many years, neighbors of the Barnes complained about the public entering their neighborhood of stately homes and parking on "their" streets. Well, now they don't want to see it leave, and signs are posted with their sentiments, which can be seen from inside the grounds. Watch for my next post on the Barnes Arboretum.