Also, our second post for this holiday week. Only a short response is required: the incredible Barnes Foundation collection has reopened in a new space in Philadelphia this month. This would be a great museum to visit if you cannot go to New York. Go to the site and plan ahead as tickets must be reserved ahead of time.
Founded in 1922, the Barnes was originally intended as collection to be viewed only in person in the buildings' location in the Philadelphia suburbs. The paintings, ranging from El Greco to Dali, were never permitted to be reproduced (except for one small catalog in the 1990s due to financial needs of the institution), so these paintings were to be seen only in person. A controversial relocation (that has been in process for several years) has allowed the collections to move to a beautiful new location in downtown Philadelphia, and now allows more access. (More info on the relocation here and here. )
I was amazed at how much history and controversy there is for one art collection. Dr. Barnes seemed to be really interested in art for him to have a rule that the pieces in the collection must always be hung the way he wanted, which is why moving it from Merion to Philadelphia was a problem for some people. Based on a review by Roberta Smith, it seems that the new location would be something Barnes approved of because it allows the public to better see and therefore better appreciate the art he was so interested in. Though there were some improvements to the new location, there are still things that remained the same. For example, most of the pieces in the collection are arranged exactly the way they were in the original location. I think this exhibit is something I would be interested in seeing, especially because it features artists I greatly admire such as Matisse, Cezanne and Renoir.
ReplyDelete~Melissa
"Art of the Steal" is the name of the documentary dealing with the struggles of the Barnes foundation and its relationship to the state of PA. Really interesting and recommended
ReplyDelete-Max
The change might have been controversial but there are always a purpose or reasoning behind each motive. In the end the change was all for the better because the public has a better access to view and appreciate the great works Barnes was inspired by. I really liked when I saw Barnes was influenced by John Dewey because I am also a fan of Dewey. He is one of my favorite philosophers and it is amazing how Barnes had the privilege to meet him.
ReplyDelete~Tsultrim Tenzin
I love how the room is opened and made expansive by the relaxed figures in the painting adorning the otherwise tense and monochromatic gold. Without the relaxed figures, the furniture would cause a huge tension, that would not allow such variying in tune and conversation of the romm's inhabitantes, and would not allow such enjoyment ion how the light filters into the room. The figures seem to quote AMnet, especially in thier use and highlights of white on blue, and in thier poses of leaning over, sometimes with their back facing outwards. -Allison allisonlewis0899@yahoo.com
DeleteThe new Barnes sounds thrilling both as a museum and because it shows a dedication to the arts that's heartening. To spend money recreating and modernizing an old space rather than reimagining the whole thing from a contemporary point of view is an interesting and surprising homage to the original idea.
ReplyDeleteI got the privilege of visiting the Barnes foundation at its original location. The painting above of Seurat is a steel. It is a painting in a painting, using technique of pointillism.
ReplyDeleteI have been painting a scene from a garden of Barnes foundation. I have one that I am working on in this semester.
- Anuradha Raghuraman