The Little Known Barnes Foundation Museum

Written by Julian Roup Thursday, 23 June 2011 20:30

Merion, PA - Dr. Albert Barnes established the Barnes Foundation in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" and horticulture. The Foundation carries out its mission through teaching, research, and other programs related to its Art Department and Arboretum, as well as through public access to the Gallery which houses its main collection of paintings, sculpture, and other works of art. The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts." Located in a twelve-acre arboretum, the Foundation is home to one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings.

BARNES ART COLLECTION
The Barnes Foundation houses one of the finest collections of French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and early Modern paintings in the world, including an extraordinary number of masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (181), Paul Cézanne (69), and Henri Matisse (59). The collection also includes important works by Pablo Picasso (46), Chaim Soutine (21), Henri Rousseau (18), Amedeo Modigliani (16), Edgar Degas (11), Vincent van Gogh (7), Georges Seurat (6), Edouard Manet (4), and Claude Monet (4).

Although renowned for its late 19th- and early 20th-century European paintings, the Foundation's collection also includes important examples of American paintings and works on paper, including works by Charles Demuth, William Glackens, and Maurice and Charles Prendergast; African sculpture; Native American ceramics, jewelry, and textiles; Asian paintings, prints, and sculptures; Medieval manuscripts and sculptures; Old Master paintings, including works by El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, and Titian; ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art; and American and European decorative arts and metalwork.

Ker-Feal
In addition to the Arboretum and Gallery in Merion, the Foundation owns Ker-Feal, an 18th-century farmhouse in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, which Dr. Barnes furnished with early American decorative arts, including an important collection of Pennsylvania German ceramics.

History Of The Barnes

Dr. Barnes, who derived his fortune from his development of the antiseptic drug Argyrol, began, from 1910 on, to dedicate himself to the pursuit of the arts, assisted at first by the painter William Glackens, with whom he had become friends. In 1912, while in Paris, Barnes visited the home of Gertrude and Leo Stein, where he gained the acquaintance of artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. In the 1920s he got to know, thanks to the merchant Paul Guillaume, the work of Amedeo Modigliani and Giorgio de Chirico. In 1922 Barnes began to transform his collection into a cultural institution, and in the same year began the job of construction of the center and underwriting the charter that sanctioned the birth of the Barnes Foundation.

The Barnes Gallery was built on the grounds of Captain Joseph Lapsley Wilson's fledgling Arboretum, not on the grounds of Albert Barnes' home. Barnes subsequently built his home next to the gallery, and this building is now the Administration building of the Foundation. Laura Barnes developed the Arboretum and the horticulture program, integral parts of the Barnes Foundation.

New Home Planned

The Barnes Foundation is a museum and art school situated in Lower Merion Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.One of the world's greatest private art collections is expected to get a big funding boost. The Barnes Foundation is receiving more than a $100 million to help move its collection of masterworks from the suburbs to downtown Philadelphia. Currently housed in Merion, Pa., which currently limits access to only 1,200 visitors per week, because of lack of exhibition space.

 On June 13, 2005, Barnes Foundation president Kimberly Camp announced her resignation, Camp had been appointed in 1998 with the goal of making the foundation economically viable, and it was during her tenure that the proposal to move the Barnes to a new building was initiated.

In May 2006, the Foundation announced that it had successfully reached its $150 million fundraising goal, and that it would now expand the campaign to raise another $50 million for endowment purposes. In August 2006, the Foundation announced that it was beginning a planning analysis for the new gallery, and that Derek Gillman (formerly of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) had been selected to be its new director and president.

The Barnes Foundation is moving ahead with its plans to move its gallery collection to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and on March 6th 2007, they announced that they had sent out a request for qualifications to an extensive group of leading and international architecture firms. They plan to select the architect by August 1st, 2007. Martha Thorn, Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture prize will advise the Barnes Foundation during the selection process.

Visit The Barnes Foundation at : www.barnesfoundation.org/