In the Press
• Latest in the Press
• FBF Press Releases
• Letters
• Quotations From Withering Criticism From Around
the Country
• Edward J. Sozanski Columns
• Drexel University Debate
• Reviews on the documentary “The Art of the Steal”
From across the country,
critics, curators, historians, and concerned citizens have voiced their
opposition to the plan to move the Barnes Foundation. The common
theme is the importance of preserving one of the world's great sites
of art and culture from needless destruction. The common emotions
range from profound dismay to anguish, all underscored with frustration
over the hubris that has brought us to this.
This archive is a mere sampling of what has been said in opposition
to the move of the Barnes art collection. The weight of the commentary
stands in contrast to the disturbing dearth of reporting from Philadelphia’s main newspaper, The Philadelphia
Inquirer.
With the exception of the Inquirer’s art
critic, Edward J. Sozanski, and extensive
reporting in 2005 by Patricia
Horn, the paper has not reported the full story about the Barnes
Foundation and has, until very recently, ignored the existence and
substance of the strong opposition movement in Friends of the Barnes
Foundation.
This serious lapse has left the Inquirer’s readers uninformed
and, consequently, misinformed. Through this website, Friends of the
Barnes Foundation hopes to fill that information gap.
To set the scene, we begin with John Anderson, author of the book,
Art Held Hostage. His article “Another Legal Theft” was
published in the Wall Street Journal on September 25, 2003:
“You'd think the city's philanthropic and cultural
elite would have been eager to help an internationally renowned institution
in its own backyard. But things weren't that simple. When Ms. Camp (former
Director of the Barnes Foundation) went begging for financial
support, its members said no--or gave a dribble here and a drab there.
On one occasion, says Ms. Camp, she approached Raymond Perelman,
the multimillionaire father of billionaire Ron Perelman, who was
then board chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He "stuck
out his hand, and he said he'd be happy to give money, 'as soon as
you give me this.' And I said: 'Give you what?' And he said: 'The
keys--the keys to the Barnes.' "Once again,
powerful forces within the Philadelphia art community were conspiring
to take over a priceless collection.”
Full story
Latest in the Press
Disgruntled? Albert Barnes
August 19, 2010
“ $500,000 Barnes Foundation grant questioned ,” by Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, Culture Monster blog
“An obscure but important early player in the now widely criticized plan to move the Barnes Foundation's unique collection of Post-Impressionist, early Modern and other art from a residential suburb to a redevelopment area five miles away in downtown Philadelphia came under fire at the agency's Wednesday board meeting after months of mounting complaints.
The Delaware River Port Authority, a Camden, N.J.-based regional transportation agency for southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania, has been sharply rebuked for what Bloomberg News called "nepotism and conflicts of interest" in its operations. The Port Authority last year collected almost $300 million in bridge tolls, commuter rail fares and other revenue.
In January 2003 the Delaware River Port Authority allocated $500,000 to the Barnes Foundation to help relocate the art collection to Philadelphia. The unusual transit authority grant came almost two years before a local court made a controversial ruling that allowed the move.”
Full story
May 31, 2010
“No Museum Left Behind,” by Lance Esplund in The Weekly Standard
“Moving through the Barnes Foundation, you feel immersed in a complete work of art, as you do when deep in the nave of a Gothic cathedral. The Barnes seems wonderfully timeless and out of place. The world and the works of art are in sync. Mature trees can be viewed through tall windows—the arcs of their branches echoing pictures’ arabesques. The only sounds are of the occasional bird outside, the measured movements of a handful of visitors, the creak of old parquet beneath your feet. Artworks flirt and flit. Parts of paintings, like flashes of jewels or glimpses of flesh, pull and lure you from one to the next.
No matter how much you know about the Barnes Foundation—no matter how often you’ve been told that it houses the most important collection of Impressionist, Postimpressionist, and early Modern art in the world—nothing, especially its deceptively small scale, prepares you for the experience inside the museum.”
To continue reading, go to http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/no-museum-left-behind
To contact The Weekly Standard:
1150 17th Street, NW
Suite 505
Washington, DC 20036
E-mail: editor@weeklystandard.com
202-293-4900
May 13, 2010
“Fund-raising work is on track for Barnes' move to Parkway,” By Stephan Salisbury in The Philadelphia Inquirer
“City officials said they did not require any economic-benefit analysis for the project.
"It's a pretty easy case from the city's perspective," said Duane Bumb, the city's senior deputy director of commerce. ‘If we were being asked to provide a public asset [in this case, the site on the Parkway] for a for-profit undertaking, we'd be requiring much more detail.’"
Full story
Same story with notes and commentary from FBF
April 26, 2010
“The Revenge of the Rich” (Die Rache der Reichen), by Lars Jensen in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (translation by Maureen Winterhagen)
“The ‘Barnes on the Parkway’ is going to look like a cross between a multiplex cinema and an upside-down milk carton. The architects Williams/Tsien have attempted to reproduce the original galleries inside. Nicolai Ouroussoff, architectural reviewer for the NY Times, called the design the ‘best reason to leave the collection where it is.’”
Full story
April 1,2010
“The Battle Rages On,” by Lauren F. Friedman in Main Line Magazine
“Inside the Paul Cret-designed house, art that has been collectively valued at billions of dollars crowds the walls alongside hinges and tools of all shapes and sizes. Wooden stools are pushed into corners, and painted dressers sit under gilded frames. The overall effect is one of organized chaos and complete sensory overload. It is unlike anywhere else in the world.”
Full Story
Read More - News Archive
Latest Friends of the Barnes Foundation (FBF) Press
Releases
August 18, 2010
Friends of the barnes foundation says DRPA contribution confirms barnes move as a pork barrel project.
Members of Friends of the Barnes Foundation will speak at today’s meeting of the Delaware River Port Authority about the $500,000 donation the agency gave to the Barnes move project.
Release
February 26, 2010
Media Advisory - Photo Opportunity. Friends of the Barnes Rally at Art of the Steal Opening for Truth and Permanent Preservation of the Barnes in Merion.
Friends of the Barnes Foundation continue the quest for
permanent preservation of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, with a rocket boost from the riveting
documentary “The Art of the Steal,” opening today in Philadelphia and New York.
Release
Destruction of Barnes in Merion by removal of its art collection is not an acceptable option.
The advocacy organization Friends of the Barnes
Foundation pursues permanent preservation for the Barnes Foundation in Merion with a new and
powerful tool for the cause. The documentary about the Barnes controversy, “The Art of the Steal,”
will be released today in Philadelphia and New York followed by nationwide distribution to more than
75 cities as far away as Honolulu, Hawaii.
Release
Read More - FBF Press
Release - Archive |
