some thoughts on the new barnes foundation

7/31/2019 Some Thoughts on the New Barnes Foundation

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photo by Elisabeth Perez Luna

And so it begins....

My preparation for attending the grand opening of the new Barnes Foundation on the Parkway in Philadelphia began almost as

immed iately as I left the Found ation seven years ag o. At times, reading articles, talking to form er emp loyees, or hearing the ran tings of

hyp ocritical neighbors an d friend s, would make m y anxiety level wan e or intensify. For this special weekend , I ordered fancy d resses,

bough t my p lane ticket, and invited two friends to accompan y me: one for each of the two gala celebrations.

It started w ith a Friday m orning, 11 o'clock dedication and light refreshments. As I entered the d own town camp us, I walked th roug h

wh at I imagine is a security checkpoint for futu re pu blic visitors. Once inside the gates, the first name I saw on the wall was N eubau er

Court, nam ed for Barnes board v ice chair, and presiden t of Aramark, Joe Neubau er. The tow ering Ellsworth Kelly's sculptu re of two

rectangular shap ed slabs of metal crowns a reflecting pool alongside the inner bu ilding faade. A mod est, un interesting array o f

Japan ese maples flanks the courtyar d w alkway to the entrance of the building. It's only after making that tu rn tow ards the front d oor

that you see the name, The Barnes Found ation."

Some Thoughts on The new Barnes Foundation

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Upon entering the building I w alked into a grand hall, filled w ith w ell-wishers, billionaires, politicians, bloviates, and board mem bers. It

was har d to imagine how m any d ifferent types of greetings I wou ld receive, but they indeed ran th e gamu t. There were lots of hu gs, and

more aw kwar d m oments than I care to count. One of the board m embers wives asked me how I was doing, with the taint of pity in her

voice. When I told her I w as doing just fine and that I was finishing up my b ook, she asked m e if the book w as good. I said yes. She

asked if it was accurate, and I said yes. When she asked m e if it was angry, I asked her w hat could p ossibly have h app ened to m ake me

mad? I moved on.

One of the event staff show ed m e to a seat in the front row, and said I could sit there if I wanted . I pu t my thing s dow n, but on m y way

over to the refreshmen ts, I saw a r eserved seat with m y nam e on it, front an d center of the d oors to the gallery. Board presiden t Bernie

Watson passed me, and I extended my h and to shake his. I think he w as as surp rised as I was at my gesture. I saw docents, former staff

members, and lots of sup porters and friends w ho said they knew this all started w ith my w ork. I thanked them then w ent in the front

and took my seat for the start of the progr am.

Bernie Watson at the Dedication May 2012

"Well it's finally h ere. The Barnes is finally in the city of Philadelphia w here it belongs." Those w ord s echoed as the p rogram began, and



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it still seems a stran ge sentiment. The Barnes has alw ays belonged in Merion. Its circumstan ce required its relocation. That circumstan ce

was not ban kru ptcy. I shared th at fact with a reporter a few weeks before the opening, and h e told m e that I had drop ped his jaw.

Bankru ptcy was n ot the reason w e filed the p etition to m ove the Found ation to the city. At the time the p etition w as filed, the Barnes

Foundation had a cash surp lus and we had no d ebt - none. But, saying so m ade the rescue so much more gallant.

Why? Pray Tell....

The reason for the Barnes Found ation move on to th e Parkway in Ph iladelph ia was simple. The same Ind entur e the very same

docum ent that freezes the Barnes Found ation collection in tim e also said very p lainly, very sp ecifically that if the Barnes Found ation was

not viable in Merion, the collection sh ould go to a Ph iladelph ia institution. Barnes letters to and from colleagues an d friend s spoke of h is

interest in h aving the Foun dation m ore accessible to comm on everyd ay w orking class people after his death . Barnes w orked tirelessly to

invite Philadelphia schoolchildren to the Foundation, only to be rejected by school system officials. By 1930, over 100 school districts and

un iversities were u sing Barnes pedagogy as a basis for their pr ograms. Girls High an d Barnes alma m ater Central High school, wherethe only tw o in Philadelphia w ho u sed the Foun dation's collections. In a letter Albert Barnes w rote to his friend and colleague John

Dewey, he worr ied that in an attemp t to re-create the program once they were gone, peop le would set it in stone, make it rigid, and

thereby destroy it. He was right.

The negativity from n eighbors and former stud ents was never abo ut w here the Barnes belonged. It was merely that it didn t belong only

to them. There was no greater examp le of hyp ocrisy than th eir constant h arangu e. None of them ever read th e Indentu re or Barnes Will.

One even testified to th at in court.

All of this tumb led throu gh m y mind as I sat there listening to speech after speech after speech. An ann oun cement was ma de that

Lincoln University wou ld be signing a resolution after the d edication to finally create a collaborative pr ogram with th e Barnes

Found ation. After my seven years of praying, w ishing, urging, and cajoling collaboration I still find it har d to b elieve. There w ere word s

from board m embers, the mayor of Philadelph ia, fund ers, and so many others I lost track.

Gov. Rend ell was sitting two seats dow n, brimming from ear to ear. I looked arou nd the room, for some mention of Dr. Albert C Barnes

ideas, his vision, his image anything that talked abou t the foun der an d w hy he created such an amazing institution, but there was

nothing. I heard his name mentioned three or four times during th e speeches, and wond ered if anyone would u se some of John Dewey's



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word s from the original opening of the Found ation in 1925. When Dewey sent Dr. Barnes a d raft of the opening rem arks, Barnes sent

them back and told Dewey to, " mention the Negroes. I want p eople to know I'm serious abou t this business."

Dr. Neil Rud enstine, former p resident of H arvard University and Barnes Foundation board member took the p odium and acknowledged

the hard wor k of the staff. He w as the one that said to the aud ience that the w ork of relocating Found ation came as a result of my w ork

and asked me to stand . I app reciated the acknowledg ment, but it did noth ing to lessen my anxiety. It seemed th at hour s had p assed, and

I had no idea actually how mu ch time the speeches took, but w hen Derek Gillman took the pod ium for the second time he asked the

board m embers to join him.

Instead, they all came dow n from th eir seats on the dais and stood d irectly in front of the patterned metal gates that now are the entr ance

to the gallery. I noticed, during th e speeches there four brow n fingers sticking throug h the op ening nervo usly anticipating th e time when

the gates were to be opened. As the board members stood there, the gates swun g open and four trump eters played a rather p retentious

salute that remind ed m e of something from th e Queens Jubilee. I entered behind the tru stees eager to see wh at the galleries looked like;

to see the way that light now crad les the amazing m asterpieces at the



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installation of classrooms an d increased natu ral light. The old therm ostats were rem oved, albeit unn ecessarily so. After the renovation

early 1990s, the old thermostats w ere pu t back on the w alls for continuity's sake. It really d idn't m atter. I walked throu gh th e galleries

visiting old friends, my m ind an d m y heart full of mem ories. The weekend w as just beginning.

The Party is Just Beginning

That evening, the Benefactors Gala began at 6 PM sharp . I arrived to the front gates with m y good friend Lonnie Graham. H e wore h is

Nehr u jacket authentic from Ind ia, and I wore a simple yet elegant bright red dr ess. A ph otograp her w as positioned just inside of

Neu bauer Cou rt, flanked by a staff member taking d own the nam es of all the entran ts. On th is second visit to the galleries, I looked m ore

closely for the th ings that seem to be missing. The list was g etting longer.



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Angelica Rudenstine in the Changing Exhibition Gallery

The chang ing exhibition gallery was n ow op en, and it contained an am azing display of archival materials docum enting the life and times

of Dr. Albert C Barnes. There were h is writings, and pu blications. The d e Chirico portrait of Albert Barnes w as there along w ith catalogs,

journ als, and other a ccou nt s of h ow and why Dr . Barnes created the Fou ndation . I won dered why these t hin gs w ere off to th e sid e in the

smaller gallery, and n ot a main feature in th e entrance hall outside of the main gallery itself. As I walked th rou gh th e galleries,

benefactors and d ocents took the opp ortun ity to eavesdrop , to learn more about th e Foun dation. I mentioned a few of the stud ent works

in the collection, which seemed a su rpr ise to the Barnes edu cation d irector. And there were oth er things that seemed a bit off.

Lonnie and I return ed to the Main H all, to cocktails and hors d 'oeuvres. Deputy Attor ney General Larry Barth ad mired Lonn ie's Nehr u

jacket . I assured Barth w ith his movie star good looks and 6 foot four fr am e he cou ld pull off an ything h e wan ted to w ear . It w asn 't long

before we were ushered into the tented p avilion constructed along the entire length of the building in wh ich dinn er wou ld be served.

Beautiful flowers ad orned every table, and place card s were at every seat. The evening's program was hosted by new s anchor Brian

Williams. There were m ore speeches by Neubau er, and Watson. Nor ah Jones was the evenings entertainment.

During th e opening remar ks, a video was p layed. It showed a youn g wom an sitting in a research setting as though she w as working. A

male voice with French accent talked abou t Dr. Barnes trips to Europe in the su mm er, and his sup port of stud ents and their families.

The voice described Albert Barnes amazing gen erosity, in b uying hou ses, farms, cars, clothing, med ical treatment and other n ecessities

for his workers and stud ents. The video included images of receipts, prov ing his largess. The video ended with the voice saying that

wh enever someone heard anyon e speak ill of Dr. Barnes, they should p lease bite him in the leg. Upon the strain emerged th e image of

Fidel, Barnes favorite canine best friend . To this d ay it cofound s me w hy so man y speak of Dr. Barnes in h ateful malicious w ays.

Philadelphia Magazine called Barnes a mon ster and an emp ire builder but then w e are in an age where th e media just makes stuff up.

Nothing I read in seven years, no words from th ose who knew him w ould su pport such ridiculousness. Was it that bad that a m an in

Philadelphia in th e 1920s abhorr ed elitism an d bigotry?

We were seated on the front row , but far off to the side so we watched Jones performed on the Jumbotron . I waited u ntil her set end ed,

and mad e my way back to the ladies room. When I emerged, a gospel choir was finishing their performance. When I returned to my

table, I leaned over an d asked Lonn ie who they were. He said he didn 't know. He couldn 't remember. I asked rhetorically wh y there



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wou ld be a gospel choir performing at the d edication wh en Dr. Barnes spoke ad oringly about his adm iration for and love of Negro

spirituals. Lonnie said w hoever pu t the program together probab ly didn't kno w the d ifference. I agreed.

The next day, starting at 8 AM was a sym posium on th e Artist and th e Collector. Dr. David Driskell and artist Moe Brooker w ere two

of the illustrious lineup of speakers. I reminded Moe wh en I saw him at the d edication Friday mo rning tha t I remembered ou r first

conversation about Albert Barnes wh en he told me that Barnes ped agogy w as useless. He laugh ed and said he remembered . I plann ed

to attend the symp osium, but I could n't. What I did n't see wh ere the names of peop le wh o personally knew Albert Barnes, or students of

the foun dation wh o had in their careers become qu ite accomplished in the field of fine art. Bill Wixom for examp le, Director Emeritus for

the Cloisters stud ied at the Foun dation d uring Dr. Barnes lifetime. I won der if he had even been invited. I won dered if Fann ie Williams

had been invited. Williams attend ed the N ew Jersey Manu al Training Institute for Colored Youth and often sang Negro sp irituals at the

Found ation for Dr. Barnes in Merion. When I last saw her, at 95 she was still quite lucid, driving her car an d w earing high h eeled lace up

shoes.

That second evening again began at 6 PM sharp . This time supp orters paid $3000 per couple to attend. I was accomp anied to this event

by my good friend John Bernard , who is also my investmen t counselor. John flew in from Detroit for the event, imp eccably dressed in h is

designer tu x. We walked th roug h the galleries, for John's first visit. Dinner w as held in the same pa vilion w ith the same menu of filet

mignon as the n ight before. I still cant believe someon e asked John if he w ould show them to their seats. The evening's em cee was a

reporter from th e Today Show, and even ings entertainment consisted of performers from the Pennsylvan ia Ballet and th e Opera

Comp any. They showed th e same video of Fidel and th e same speeches took place. During dinn er, three stud ents from the Pennsylvania

Academy of Fine Arts took to the stage with p aint boxes and easels to paint w hile we dined . By now I was exhausted. There was a

noticeable dearth of brown fingers

I returned to The Four Seasons and in m y room w as a plate swirled with p ink and yellow colored sugar , beneath five pieces of

hand crafted chocolate. One included the image of the new Barnes logo, and an other smaller piece contained the image of a Gaugu in

painting from the collection. It was qu ite the dedication but w as this what Barnes meant he said the Barnes is for the comm on m an?



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The de Chirico portrait of Dr. Albert C. Barnes

Things Amiss

I don't m ean to be critical, because I think everyth ing was d one to ensu re that the Barnes Found ation in its new location w ould be perfect

in every w ay. But, there w ere things that d isquieted me th at I wou ld be rem iss to not mention. The greatest being th e absence of Dr.Albert C Barnes name anyw here in the bu ilding, except for its being on a sm all strip of metal on th e groun d th at lines the reflecting pool



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inside of the entry alcove of the bu ilding. The strip is about 2 inches thick and includ es a quote by Dr . Barnes and his nam e. That's it.

There is no bust, no p laque, no image of Dr. Albert C Barnes. I was told that on ce the chang ing exhibition is taken d own , the de Chirico

portr ait of Albert Barnes w ould be moved into the entran ce hall. That exhibition will be in place for 10 months. But wha t wou ld hav e

been wron g with including some p erman ent memor ialization of the found er of this great institution?

There was a glaring omission that m akes me cross. It has to d o w ith Dr. Albert Barnes views abou t African art and its place in

un derstan ding classic aesthetic elements. Dr. Barnes w rote passionately about th e impor tance of African art to th e developm ent of

European painting. Were not talking abou t African art an d m odern ism. Barnes said that were it not for the arts of Africa, the art of

Europe w ould h ave died in the 15th century. He mad e his views app arent in the original building in Merion.

On either side of the entran ce to the building w ere ceramic re-creations by the Enfield p ottery wor ks of African masks from th e Barnes

collection. It was th e only place in this coun try w here you entered a m ajor collection of Europ ean and American art throu gh an African

aesthetic lens. Derek Gilman assured me that African masks w ere being etched into the metal d oors, but w ere not yet read y. But th ere

was more.


S Th ht Th B F d ti


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S m Th ht Th B F d ti


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Parkway Building Entrance

Along the insid e of the main gallery room in Merion, Barnes installed a frieze, with African masks ev ery five feet. When H enri Matisse

delivered La Danse, he insisted that Dr. Barnes take d own the frieze because h e said it d istracted from his mu ral. Dr. Barnes refused . The

design comp lemented the iron railings inside and ou tside of the Barnes gallery building that included an African m ask in the center

below a Grecian urn , flanked by classical scroll designs. Dr. Barnes w as making an impor tant statement. He w as saying to his aud ience

that African aesthetic belonged on the sam e plane, and was as imp ortant as Greek and Roman classical design. These elements are

missing from the new building.

During th e evening of the second gala, I asked several people wh y those elements w ere not includ ed, but there w ere no good answ ers. It

seems no one quite knew w hy they w eren't there or why they w ere there in the first place. It seems no one un derstood they had any

impor tance beyond d ecoration. I saw the architects walking throu gh the bu ilding, and I introd uced m yself. I told them I thoug ht the

building w as quite wond erful but that I had a problem w ith the removal of the African art in the p laces where Barnes initially installed

it. The architects nervou sly explained to m e that the new d esign in the frieze below th e mu ral was based on Kuba cloth, and th at the

stone pattern ing in the entran ce hall reflecting th at of kente cloth. I asked them if anybody k new that, or if there was anyth ing in the

building th at wou ld tell peop le that's what they w ere looking at. They told m e there wou ld be a brochur e later. Their answers d id little to

calm m e. Quite the reverse.

I asked th em if anybod y p icked u p on their subtle reference to African textiles. Barnes inclusion of African art as a p erman ent fixture of

the bu ilding was n ot ador nmen t. It was n ot decoration. It was a un ique, still controversial but very specific statement. Now it's gone. One

of the architects told me that d esigning for the new bu ilding was like walking a tight rope because there were so many th ings they had to

keep in mind and so many d etails they had to slavishly adhere to. I told them I u nderstood, but they also und erstood w hen they took the

commission that w ould be the case. That's no excuse.

This last observation m ay seem p etty, or too slavish to detail. I was accused of that by on e of the attend ees, and its an accusation I'm

quite comfortable with. It seems to me the gr eatest danger alw ays was r emoving Albert C. Barnes from th e Barnes Found ation. The

collection and his ideas are intertwined . One did not h app en w ithout th e other. It's still importan t, because Barnes ideas about learning

to see, about u nd erstanding aesthetics, as a way to reinforce the need for cultural equity are p rofound . They are lessons we still have no t

yet learned. I always susp ected th e foul denigration of Barnes, even after his death w as a way to d iscoun t him as a man , to then discount



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Merion Building Entrance

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some thoughts on the new barnes foundation

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