Barnes founded the Barnes Foundation, which received its charter from the state as an educational institution. But no one seeing “The Art of the Steal” will be left wondering where the filmmakers’ sympathies are. “We didn’t want to make a boring talking-heads documentary. The documentary was the brainchild of Lenny Feinberg, the executive producer and a Barnes alumnus. (The Barnes Foundation declined multiple invitations to cooperate, Mr. Argott said.) We wanted to make a work that would resonate with audiences, and these are the kinds of works that do.”. “We never set out to make an agenda piece,” Mr. Argott said. (Redirected from The Barnes Foundation) The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. “But the more we found, the clearer it became that there were dirty dealings behind the scenes.”. 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. After a few star turns on the festival circuit, the film opens in New York on Friday. (“The Art of the Steal” estimates the collection’s worth at $25 billion.) Murky details: Rendell, The Barnes, Lincoln University, and others. Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso--Barnes collected it before it was popular in the U.S., and he collected the best of the best. On one occasion, says Ms. Camp, she 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. Polarization is as much a part of Barnes’s legacy as the paintings.”. Fast, free delivery. The museum came to Mr. Argott’s attention through a former Barnes student named Lenny Feinberg “real estate investor, mountaineer and wine drinker” as the film’s program notes describe him. The story of Dr. Albert Barnes (1972-1951) and his art collection, which includes works by Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir, Gauguin, Matisse, and many DON ARGOTT was never one of those Philadelphians besotted with the Barnes Foundation, the museum of late-19th- and early-20th-century art tucked away in the suburbs. A 37-year-old documentary filmmaker, Mr. Argott had previously trained his cameras on disparate subjects like a rock-music school and the experiences of four football players entering the N.F.L. The building was completed by 1925, with the design and construction led by renowned French architect Paul Philippe Cret. But the problems that beset the Barnes have never been black and white. The beginning of the end for the Barnes can probably be dated to the arrival of Richard H. And how the Barnes board of trustees and the arts community rallied together to save one of the greatest artistic treasures in the world. The Barnes Foundation、フィラデルフィア - 「いいね！」6.6万件 - We offer fresh new ways to see art & the world through a renowned collection, exhibitions, programs & classes for all. A new documentary commissioned by the Barnes Foundation tells the organization's side of the controversial relocation of its priceless art collection from suburban Philadelphia to a downtown museum, writes the A scene from Don Argott’s documentary “The Art of the Steal.”. “Such a lively debate,” Mr. Argott said happily, describing the question-and-answer session that followed the screening. One month free trial! I’d never been there.”. This is the other side.Albert Barnes went to his grave in 1951 but the future of his priceless art collection remained uncertain.This is a compelling story of how lies and legal battles were overcome. Working Class Boy is a 2018 Australian documentary film about the life of Jimmy Barnes, based on the 2016 memoir of the same name. “There are valid arguments to be made for moving the collection to a place where more people can see it,” Ms. Eaton added. Exhibition Catalogue: Elijah Pierce's America, Exhibition Catalogue: Marie Cuttoli: The Modern Thread from Miró to Man Ray, The Architecture of the Barnes Foundation. Told by the people who lived it!DVD documentary in English, 60 minutes. Institutions can’t become fossils if they want to survive.”, “The film was full of unsubstantiated allegations and very one-sided,” said Derek Gillman, the foundation’s president and executive director, who saw “The Art of the Steal” in Toronto. DON ARGOTT was never one of those Philadelphians besotted with the Barnes Foundation, the museum of late-19th- and early-20th-century art tucked away in the suburbs. When the Barnes Foundation originally opened in 1925 in Lower Merion, it wasn’t just the art that stood out. The Barnes in Philadelphia. The Art of the Steal is a 2009 documentary film directed by Don Argott, about the controversial move of the Barnes Foundation, generally considered to be the world's best collection of post-Impressionist art and valued in 2009 to be worth at least $25-billion, from Merion, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Your support helps research and conservation at the Barnes, so we can present “Whether or not you agree with the will, it represents Barnes’s point of view, and it’s our script for how he thought.”. Get unlimited DVD Movies & TV Shows delivered to your door with no late fees, ever. Get directions. The documentary explores controversial plans to move the Barnes Foundation's $25 billion art collection to downtown Philadelphia — against the wishes of its founder. But changing the institution is a very different issue. One of the world's greatest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist & modern art. These issues bring out these emotions. “For one thing, I hadn’t had any idea how big the place was. A quick background on the Barnes Foundation. Mr. Feinberg was the driving force and financial angel behind “The Art of the Steal,” a work that traces the decades-long controversy over the museum’s fortunes and its eventual decision to abandon its longtime home for new quarters in downtown Philadelphia. That feeling evaporated the moment he set foot in the galleries that housed the Barnes collection, a trove that included 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses and 46 Picassos, along with countless other items of visual art, ranging from metalwork to Medieval manuscripts to African sculpture. A possible next project, titled “Ride Satan Ride,” is a homage to the horror biker movies of the 1970s. It was founded in 1922 by Albert Barnes, a wealthy scientist who collected what is now considered an incomparable collection of Impressionist and Modernist art. And though Mr. Argott attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia and has lived in the city for 13 years, he didn’t understand the passion that surrounded this highly peculiar Barnes Foundation, the subject of his latest film, “The Art of the Steal.”, “Certain people have deep feelings about the Barnes,” Mr. Argott said the other day over tea at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, his long curly hair and dark glasses noticeable among the suits populating the cafe. For starters there is the title itself, which makes clear what they think transpired behind the scenes. “Changing the will is a legal issue. “The film obviously had a message that didn’t reflect the complexities of the issues,” said Linda Eaton, director of collections at Winterthur. “Even if you agree with their conclusions, that the Barnes should stay where it is, this work is a polemic that’s structured to get people riled up, to get them excited and angry.”. I just suddenly understood how special it was.”. I’m not sure why. Posts about Barnes Foundation written by Rick Ouellette “As through this world I wander, I see lots of funny men,” Woody Guthrie sang back in 1939, “Some will rob you with a six-gun and some with a … And the emphasis on the will, a leitmotif of the film? The documentary explores controversial plans to move the Barnes Foundation's $25 billion art collection to downtown Philadelphia — against the wishes of its founder. There are two sides to every story. Government agencies and philanthropic organizations played leading roles in the decision to move the collection from Merion, Pa., to new quarters in Philadelphia, scheduled to open in 2012. That’s why we didn’t cooperate with the filmmakers. The film looks on one of Australia's most legendary and iconic artists; his traumatic childhood, fuelled with domestic violence, poverty and alcoholism and his evolution from James Dixon Swan to Jimmy Barnes. “Anyone trying to understand the history of the Barnes institution is presented with opposing and irreconcilable viewpoints,” Ms. Lidz added. Directed by Glenn Holsten. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Barnes Foundation, where a dazzling collection of painting and objects is arranged in unusual ways, can be espe... Art galleries can be intimidating places. But for some reason the Barnes stirs something up in people.”. With David Morse, Anna Deavere Smith. Dubbed by In 1922, Dr. Barnes chartered the Foundation as an educational institution for teaching people how to look at art. Philadelphia, PA 19130 draft. Albert Barnes Barnes Foundation Dog Artist Best Pal Conspiracy Theories International Film Festival Documentaries Portrait Photography In the film civic leaders, journalists and art historians on both sides of the debate on the wisdom of that decision are heard from. There are two sides to every story. “I didn’t understand. “We’re trying to be storytellers, telling the story through characters,” Mr. Argott said. “Everyone seems to insist that their stance is the only moral one. It was not in our interests to do so.”. Albert C. Barnes, born in 1872, made his fortune in business but was primarily an educator and collector who presciently snapped up some of the world’s greatest examples of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modernist paintings. Using archival material, talking heads and graphics to present a case that audience members will find either compelling or strident, depending on their point of view, “The Art of the Steal” brings to life one of the most adored and detested figures in the American art world. This is the other side. But the collection eventually became the centerpiece of a messy and sometimes vitriolic struggle, one marked by lawsuits and charges of racial discrimination and accompanied by ever worsening financial problems. Barnes Takeout: Your Daily Serving of Art was launched in the spring of 2020 during our closure due to COVID-19. The much-anticipated documentary “The Art of the Steal: The Untold Story of the Barnes Foundation” looks at the shrewdly engineered takeover of arguably the nation’s greatest early 20th century cultural monument. “And as for the question of whether Barnes’s will should be broken, is a will necessarily the most sacred document in the world? Welcome to The Barnes Foundation Archives, Library, & Special Collections Catalog About the Barnes Foundation THE COLLECTOR: Dr. Albert C. Barnes, HBO Documentary Films But his taste is nothing if not eclectic. “We were trying to tell a compelling story, using all the tools at our disposal,” Mr. Argott said. Let's get back again to Don Argott's The Art of the Steal, the new documentary about the sad fate of the Barnes collection. Directed by former Comcast anchor/executive producer Art Fennell, it's the Barnes' answer to the controversial 2009 documentary "The Art of the Steal," which makes the case that the governmental and philanthropic interests that moved the prized art collection from Lower Merion to Philadelphia violated the wishes of the late Dr. Albert C. Barnes. When Barnes died in 1951, he left a will that gave control of the foundation to Lincoln University, a small college for African-American students, and stipulated that the art never be sold, loaned or moved. 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