Sunday, March 3, 2013

It Was Off to The Barnes

 
This Saturday it was finally off to see the new Barnes Foundation with a guest  to see the new digs!The Barnes Foundation is an American educational art and horticultural institution. It was founded in  1922 by Albert C. Barnes, a chemist who collected and assembled one of the world's largest , private art collections.Those galleries include works in abundance by Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, and Picasso, and substantial representations of Tintoretto, El Greco, Goya, Courbet, Manet,Monet,Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Seurat, Rousseau, and Modigliani.  The Barnes Foundation, was once a grand old curmudgeonly lion of a museum, has been turned into what may be the world’s most elegant petting zoo. I am not surprised that the members of the press, after touring the Foundation’s new home on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, have by and large been pleased. The old Barnes, for three quarters of a century was a splendidly ornery landmark on the Main Line, a very "old money" and wealthy suburb of Philadelphia, was not easy, and a bit hard even to get there. And once you arrived at the old sand stone mansion, you were confronted with a fearsome onslaught of masterworks and, at least in recent years, pretty much left on your own. The sensory overload at the Barnes could be daunting, art competing for a visitor’s attention with a great many other extraordinary things.The new Barnes, designed by the architectural team of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, is all about giving museumgoers an ingratiating experience.
 
 
The over-the-top power of the Barnes has been theorized and contextualized—the wild beauty of Barnes’s conception may still be there in galleries that meticulously replicate the original rooms of the mansion, but the raw power of the Main Line has been muffled and anesthetized by a culture-by-committee mentality worlds away from Albert Barnes’s unyielding intellect. The new building, in a tastefully glamorized late-modern minimalist style familiar from the shelter magazines, suggests a posh spa, with the building’s comfortable seating, casual coffee bar, reflecting pool, and courtyard gardens. Much of the building is sensitively done, with a variety of soothing wood surfaces and stone treated in several striking ways.
 

 
 

But it wasn't all fun and games to get the museum to move, on the contrary it was quite the controversy. The move follows a decade of bitter debate over the future of this multimillion-dollar collection. The controversy was covered nationally, and a 2009 documentary, The Art of the Steal, argued that the foundation was the subject of a takeover by other non-profit institutions. It asserted that this violated Albert Barnes' will and his desire to keep his collection private for educational purposes and outside the circle of the Philadelphia establishment. After a two-year legal battle that included an examination of the foundation's financial situation, Judge Stanley Ott ruled that the foundation could relocate. Three charitable foundations, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Lenfest Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation, had agreed to help the Barnes raise $150 million for a new building and endowment on the condition that the move be approved. Many were also appalled by the price tag by this move.This was a common scene during the relocation.
 
 
But now it is all back story and I found the new foundation to be very interesting, and the artworks seemed to be almost revitalized in their new atmosphere if you ask me. And they did a wonderful job re-creating the old rooms of the mansion.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Afternoon aperitifs followed at the Dandelion Pub. It was a lovely afternoon.

14 comments:

  1. wow gorgeous i'm in love

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  2. I have visited the Barnes numerous times since it opened in the early 60's. It’s a stupendous collection; it deserves to be seen. But I remember well the years when 1) the limited number of visitors made it impossible to get in without a reservation; 2) half the museum was closed at any one time for lack of funds; 3) no one knew it was there or how to get to it. (Merion did everything it could to keep people out of their exclusive suburb.) There is a devastating bio of Albert Barnes by Howard Greenfeld. Barnes was an arrogant snob who HATED people. Many of his masterpieces were bought at fire-sale prices from Europeans who were desperate to flee the Nazis. No one was allowed into the museum during his lifetime without his personal approval. The only reason the public was let in at all was because the state of PA sued the museum in 1960, after his death. (Typically they claimed tax write offs they didn't deserve.) The best thing for the Barnes and by far the best thing for the public is to move it. A world-class collection doesn’t belong to a dead man, even one with superb taste. The people whining now about honoring his wishes don't know what they are talking about. When we head to our place on the Line I can't wait to see the Barnes new home.



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  3. What a nice way to start the weekend! I saw the doc on this The Art of the Deal, had no idea of the huge stink it created. Why would you not want people to see such talented artitists and their works?

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  4. I think the placed turned out great!I visited the Barnes Foundation a few years ago. The controversies, financial problems and great art of the institution are legendary. The Dr. Barnes' will was specifically restrictive as an "up yours" to Mainline society of the early 20th century. I have followed the travails of the Barnes over the years and the move, although painful, was really necessary. The Foundation could not survive in Merion, PA, a lovely enclave to a time gone-by, but small, quiet and limiting. Moving to downtown Philadelphia will give the collection more access to the public and scholars, allow for better fundraising and public programs. Nice weekend to me.

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  5. I found the documentary well made, albeit extremely one-sided. Even so, I didn’t buy into it's premise. Barnes was as much of a snob as the critics who had snubbed his collection. He took his toys home in a huff after one public display and negative reviews. He was motivated by a wounded ego (lets face it most art collectors amass for their egos as well as the pleasure of the art.) To hoard so much incredible art from the world was petty and selfish, and some say he exploited the artists, paying them little to nothing for their works (6 dollars for an early Picasso?). Sure he owned it, but most owners of famous artists’ works loan them to museums on a regular basis. He chose to donate the works to a university with little or no knowledge on the care and preservation of art or buildings as a hostile snub to Philadelphia. The "Friends of the Barnes" also came across to me as elitist snobs who wanted the Barnes School/museum all to themselves, their private neighborhood treasure, after all, only THEY had the intellectual sophistication to appreciate it. Just like Barnes and his school of smug art students. Take me next visit to Philly, I would love to see it, I think the architects did a stunning job.

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  6. So glad it is finally done. It seemed like forever till the place was finished. I was there with some of the symphony for the opening gala, and it seemed to get a great reception. I agree with you also, the works look much more alive in the new digs. Gald you enjoyed it.

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  7. I'm so glad you enjoyed your weekend! Ok, listen. I saw "The Art of the Steal" and I'm just as pissed off as the next person about the museum being moved to Center City to become a cash cow and tourist attraction. It is greedy, disrespectful, and simply unethical. But, let's face it, this was inevitable, especially in a cash-strapped, corrupt city like Philly. But put that aside, come in with a fresh mind, and the museum will blow you away. I went back in june and I loved it. Start by reading a bit though about Alfred Barnes and the history behind the collection. Learn about his eccentricities and his reasons behind creating such an esoteric arrangement of these paintings.

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  8. The Barnes is both amazing and slightly frustrating I hear, appropriate considering the arduous history of the foundation itself. I would love to see it when I get to Philly, but I hear seeing it once is enough.

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  9. Oh, fer crap's sake! Let's just enjoy the art shall we? Now can I get a drink?

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  10. Beautiful building.

    Loved The Art of the Steal,

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  11. The collection itself really is amazing. I walked away with a new appreciation for the artists that I already loved...especially di Chirico

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  12. Anonymous4/01/2015

    Here is what Judge Ott is up to now. http://rebelpundit.com/guardianship-abuse-spreads-to-pennsylvania/

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