The continuing story of the Barnes Foundation is a tragedy, one of many in America when the rich and powerful, using expensive p.r. firms and lots of money, manage to weaken the rule of law and the rights of property for those less well-endowed, all the while claiming to be acting for the benefit of the people. Don Argott's documentary, "The Art of the Steal," is an excellent film that was, unfortunately, unable to do more than show what happened.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Barnes some years ago. Founded in 1922, it was a fabulous collection of modern art, tucked away in a Philadelphia suburb, with odd hours. It belonged to Lincoln University, a predominantly black college, left by the will of Dr. Albert C. Barnes, who made millions with his discoveries of patent medicines like Argyrol and spent millions on art, buying up hundreds of works by Matisse, Picasso, Seurat, Renoir, Van Gogh and others and hanging them in an almost random manner, one painting practically on top of its neighbor. He always was solidly anti-establishment, considering those people to be phonies, cheats and liars. Before he died he wrote a will that kept his collection intact and away from the people he despised.
Some 70 years later, as the 20th century turned into the 21st, some of Philadelphia's rich and powerful, like the leaders of the Pew and Annenberg foundations, decided that moving the Barnes collection to downtown would make the city's "Museum Row" more glamorous and bring more tourists and conventions to the city, more plaudits and power to them.
It took a lot of work, but because the Barnes board lacked the resources of those who wanted the art, neighborhoods were re-zoned, laws were rewritten, Lincoln U. leaders were bought out or otherwise seduced while those who fought to keep the museum where Dr. Barnes wanted it were demonized. The Pew group even convinced the Internal Revenue Service to change its status to legalize what it was doing and lessen its tax bill at the same time. Walter Annenberg, who made his money with the Daily Racing Form and whose name is atop the USC school of journalism, then left his art collection to the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York.
Argott has allowed his villains to be hoist on their own petards, with comments from the Philly mayor (John Street) and the Pennsylvania governor (Ed Rendell), along with interviews with people like Richard Glanton, who bragged, "I brought the Barnes out of the Dark Ages," though most of the movers and shakers refused to be interviewed. Those who fought and argued for maintaining the status quo included art critics (Christopher Knight of the L.A. Times), art historians (John Anderson), museum directors (Colin Bailey of the Frick Collection), the furious Nick Tinari, once an art student at the Barnes, now an attorney, and many of the Barnes neighbors in the quiet little suburb of Lower Merion.
For many viewers, the film will be a slight disappointment because it is not a tour of the collection, which is in the process of being stored for removal to a new space downtown, but there are some old views which give some idea of its strange beauty and the idiosyncratic mind of Dr. Barnes. But Argott's point and the film's strength lies in its warnings.
Opens today at the Tivoli.
–Joe
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One response
Dear Joe,
This is an excellent synopsis, but I rush to tell you that The Friends of the Barnes Foundation are not giving up! The Art of the Steal is raising awareness about this and people realize it is a national cultural heritage story, on top of everything else. The Merion site is eligible for National Historic Landmark status. People can go to the Friends’ website to learn more, to submit a petition and a letter to the Donors to the Move at http://www.barnesfriends.org
Regards, Evelyn Yaari, member, Friends of the Barnes Foundation