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Barnes — signs of life on the Parkway
By roberta
October 17, 2008 · 2 Comments
If there’s any doubt that the Barnes Foundation is really moving to Philadelphia here’s news — there are signs on the Parkway now that mark the territory in no uncertain terms. BARNES ON THE PARKWAY they say in a most declarative manner.
There’s cyclone fencing behind the S-shaped billboards…and a contractor’s trailer is already there as well.
The billboards are both highly corporate (slick with great graphics) and also a little Barnesian idiosyncratic, with blow-up photos of the Barnes’ storied walls and quotes from Dr. Barnes about art and Everyman.
The names of the architects,Tod Williams and Billie Tsien appear prominently and yet their website is opaque about their plans. Read a little about the duo at Inga Saffron‘s blog.
Tags: barnes
I read “The Devil and Dr. Barnes” while working at the “News Journal” in Delaware. A tragic death put an end to Dr. Barnes’ collecting.
During my nearly three years in Delaware I never set foot in Mr. Barnes’ museum and never saw his precious collection. A voracious consumer, the man bought anything and everything he could get his hands on. He purchased the good, the bad, and the ugly. Impressionism’s bounty, warts and all!
He had the financial means, and he bought! Clearly, in the bucket of oysters, there’s bound to be a pearl… in time, the Renoirs, the Soutines, all became precious jewels regardless of their quality or importance.
Judging from the letters and descriptions of The Dr. Barnes’ excentricities, I imagine his precious collection will end in Philadelphia…The excentric Dr. Barnes must be turning on his grave….
Barnes originally wanted to house his Foundation in Philadelphia…not everybody knows that. But then he got into some kind of a to do with the old guard art intelligensia in the city and, in a snit, sited his building just on the other side of City Ave. OUTSIDE the city.
He’s turning in his grave, I’m sure, but smiling too.