Photo by Tom Crane / The Barnes Foundation Philadelphia
After years of bitter controversy, the
Barnes Foundation opens the doors of its new location in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday. Since 1922, the collection has been housed in the Philadelphia suburbs, where critics say the collection's owner would have wanted it to stay.
Photo by George Widman / AP
Albert Barnes built this gallery for his art collection in Merion, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, in 1922. He wanted his institution to be a school for art appreciation, not an ordinary museum.
Photo by Matt Rourke / AP
The lighting in the galleries of the new building (shown above) is a dramatic improvement over the lighting in the Merion building. But that's the biggest change; Barnes Foundation officials promised a Pennsylvania judge they would preserve the dimensions of the original galleries in the collection's new home.
Photo by The Barnes Foundation
Barnes Foundation officials say the new facility — with classrooms, a lecture hall and modern library — will help them better carry out the foundation's core educational mission. Above, the view of the new building from 21st Street.
Originally published on Sat May 19, 2012 11:19 am
The Barnes Foundation opens the doors of its new gallery in downtown Philadelphia on Saturday. Its collection of paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne and many more is now hanging in galleries designed to replicate those at the Barnes' old home in suburban Merion. The move follows a decade of bitter debate over the future of this multibillion-dollar collection.
From the outside, you would never confuse the new Barnes with the old one. Where the original building was neo-classical and sober, the new Barnes is post-modern, all raw stone and glass. But inside, it's as if the old Barnes galleries have been copied and pasted into downtown Philadelphia.
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