Albert C.Barnes’s Art Collection

Coombs Barnes (January 2, 1872 - July 24, 1951) was an American <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States> inventor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventor> and art collector <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_collector>. With the fortune made from the development of the antiseptic drug Argyrol <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyrol>, he founded the Barnes Foundation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Foundation>, a museum created from his private collection of art. It is strongly represented by paintings by Impressionist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionist>, Post-Impressionist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionist> and Modernist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist> masters, as well as furniture and crafted objects. It is located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania>. Barnes was known as an eccentric figure who had a passion for educating the underprivileged. He created a special relationship with Lincoln University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_University_(Pennsylvania)>, a historically black college <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_college> in the area, and gave the university a strong role in administration of his foundation [2].about 1910, when he was in his late 30s, Barnes began to dedicate himself to the study and pursuit of art. He commissioned one of his former high school classmates, the painter William Glackens <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Glackens>, to buy several 'modern' French paintings. Glackens returned from Paris <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris> with the 20 paintings that formed the core of Barnes' collection.1912, during a stay in Paris, Barnes was invited to the home of Gertrude <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein> and Leo Stein <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Stein>, where he met artists such as Henri Matisse <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse> and Pablo Picasso <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso>. In the 1920s, art dealer Paul Guillaume <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Guillaume> introduced him to the work of Amedeo Modigliani <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Modigliani>, Giorgio de Chirico <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chirico>, and Chaim Soutine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Soutine> among others. With money, an excellent eye, and poor economic conditions in the Depression <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression>, Barnes was able to acquire much important art at bargain prices. His first Picasso, for instance, was bought for under $100.was known for his antagonism to the discipline of art history, which he said "stifles both self-expression and appreciation of art." He also was an outspoken and controversial critic of public education and the museum. He set up his foundation to allow visitors to have a direct, even "hands-on", approach to the collection. He created it, he said, not for the benefit of art historians, but for that of the students.public showing in 1923 of Barnes' collection proved too avant-garde <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde> for most people's taste. The critical ridicule aimed at this show was the beginning of Barnes' long-lasting and well-publicized antagonism toward those he considered part of the art establishment. Barnes had his collection hung according to his own ideas about showing relationships between paintings and objects; for instance, paintings were placed near furniture and finely crafted hinges and metalwork. The pieces were identified in a minimal manner, without traditional curatorial comment, so that viewers could approach them without mediation.' interests included what came to be called the Harlem Renaissance <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance>, and he followed its artists and writers. In March 1925 Barnes wrote an essay "Negro Art and America", published in the Survey Graphic of Harlem, which was edited by Alain Locke <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Locke>. He explained his admiration of what could be called 'black soul'. In the late 1940s Barnes met Horace Mann Bond <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann_Bond>, the first black president of Lincoln University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_University_(Pennsylvania)>, a historically black college <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_college> in central Chester County, Pennsylvania <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_County,_Pennsylvania>. They established a friendship that led to Barnes' inviting Lincoln students to the collection. He also ensured by his will that officials of the university had a prominent role after his death in running his collection.limited access to the collection, and required people to make appointments by letter. Applicants sometimes received rejection letters "signed" by Barnes's dog. In a famous case, Barnes refused admission to writer James A. Michener <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Michener>, who gained access to the collection only by posing as an illiterate steelworker. It was not until 1961 that the collection was open to the public regularly two days a week. That schedule expanded slightly in 1967. Up through the early 1990s, long after Barnes's death, access to the collection was extremely limited. The collection had difficulties raising enough money from attendees to provide for needed renovations to its building, as well as regular operating expenses. The Foundation decided to send 80 works to be exhibited on a three-year tour to raise money for needed renovations. The paintings and other works attracted huge crowds in numerous cities. Appointments to see the collection may be made by phone or over the Internet, but the number of visitors is controlled by the hour so the galleries are not too crowded [9, p. 143-150].

Getty Center

Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brentwood,_Los_Angeles,_California>, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty>. The $1.3 billion Center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views (overlooking Los Angeles). The Center sits atop a hill, which is connected to a visitor's parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car, cable-pulled tram. The Center draws 1.3 million visitors annually.is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty_Museum>. This branch of the museum specializes in "pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs". Among the works on display is the painting Irises <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irises_(painting)> byVincent van Gogh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>. Besides the Museum, the Center's buildings house the Getty Research Institute <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Research_Institute> (GRI), the Getty Conservation Institute <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Conservation_Institute>, the Getty Foundation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Foundation>, and the administrative offices of the J. Paul Getty Trust <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty_Trust>, which owns and operates the Center. The Center also has outdoor sculptures displayed on terracces and in gardens. The Center was designed by architect Richard Meier <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Meier> and includes a central garden designed by artist Robert Irwin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Irwin_(artist)>. GRI's separate building contains a research library with over 900,000 volumes and two million photographs of art and architecture. The Center's design included special provisions to address concerns regarding earthquakes and fire[2].