To Move or Not to Move ...
That is the question, say passionate art lovers battling over the home of a beloved collection
By Eric Wills | From Preservation | September/October 2009
A mural by Henri Matisse, La Danse, crafted by the artist specifically for the Barnes, decorates three lunettes above the main gallery.
Credit: Raymond Patrick
Ask Evelyn Yaari to describe the Barnes Foundation to someone who has never visited, and she'll say that's no easy task. "It's not like a museum. You walk through those gates onto the property, and you just know it's going to be something really different, really special."
Indeed, the Barnes, sited amid a 12-acre arboretum in Merion, Pa., houses the largest private collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art in the world, including 69 Cézannes, 181 Renoirs, and 46 Picassos—all hanging in a late Beaux-Arts-style building designed by the architect Paul Cret.
But Yaari worries about the future of this foundation, begun in 1922 by physician Albert Barnes to promote arts education. That's because the Barnes' directors plan to move the collection to a new site in Philadelphia, eight miles away, with construction scheduled to begin this fall.
"The institution was failing," says Derek Gillman, the Barnes' president. The organization's dire financial straits, he says, spurred the decision to leave, which has been supported by $150 million in philanthropic donations. Others argue that relocating downtown would make the collection more accessible, while adding luster to the city's so-called Museum Row.
The Art of the Steal
Filmmaker Don Argott's 2009 documentary "The Art of the Steal" will be shown in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. For tickets, visit the New York Film Festival, which describes the film: "Bound to be controversial, this thought-provoking documentary explores the travails of the legendary Barnes collection of art masterworks and the foundation set up to protect it and raises vital questions about public vs. private "ownership" of art."
But to remove Albert Barnes' collection from the building designed specifically to house it, Yaari says, destroys the context that makes the place unique: "It puts at risk an enormously important cultural site, a place that people come to almost as a pilgrimage."
Yaari belongs to the Friends of the Barnes Foundation, a grassroots group formed in 2004 to fight the move. The friends mounted a legal challenge that a county court judge dismissed last year on grounds that the members didn't have standing to bring the case.
Yaari and the friends group, however, will continue the fight. She says that any issue with accessibility could be solved with shuttle service from Philadelphia, and that simply increasing the number of paying visitors could help solve the institution's financial woes.
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Comments
Submitted by wally boy at: September 10, 2009
the proposed move of the barnes' gallery will destroy a major international artistic icon.the place is eligible for national historic landmark status,similar to independence hall,monticello,etc,but the trustees declined application,for obvious reasons{the place would need to be intact,thus defeating the move}. the trustees have been profligate in the past,and feckless in the present,and should be replaced by persons who know what "trustee" means! for a fraction of the money proposed to move the gallery art,the entire foundation could be saved for future generations' appreciation. how can a man's work so easily,and fraudulently destroyed? preservationists,artists,citizens,wake up!! it's not too late to save this treasure!!
Submitted by JohnDeweyFan at: September 3, 2009
As New Yorker writer Peter Schjeldahl wrote in a February 16, 2004 article ("Untouchable"), "If there were other places like the Barnes, dispensing with it would not be tragic. But one minus one is zero."
Submitted by •cathartic artist* at: August 31, 2009
I will never forget and forever treasure my visit to the Barnes. It was, indeed a pilgrimage of a spiritual kind The devious plans to move it from its home are criminal. I applaud and support the efforts of Evelyn Yaari to keep the Barnes in the building, on the gorgeous grounds that is its true and rightful home. T
Submitted by JMH at: August 30, 2009
The Barnes is an absolute treasure and should remain right where it is. A visit will confirm that fact.
Submitted by Anonymous at: August 30, 2009
Let's hope some of the people who care about the Barnes will recognize it is not too late to save it and get to work by writing to the trustees of the Barnes and Pew. Great work Evelyn!