February 27, 2008
The Barnes Foundation: Past and Future
Emily Croll
Former Senior Administrative Officer of the Barnes Foundation.
Minutes of the 21st Meeting of the 66th Year
President Giordmaine called the 21st meeting of the 66th year to order at 10:15 AM. The invocation was intoned by George Hansen; the minutes were read by David McAlpin. About 110 members attended.
The following guests were in attendance: Jack Reilly introduced Ed Weiss; Nick Wilson introduced his wife, Ruth; Ken Barnhart introduced is wife, Nancy; Perry Morgan introduced his wife, Liz; Cy Meisel introduced his wife, Jackie.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of two deceased members: Harry Kihn and Sanders Maxwell.
Four new members were elected: Donald Edwards, George Vaughn, Edmund Weiss jr. and Peter Wise.
Nick Wilson introduced our speaker, Emily Croll, Former Senior Administrative Officer of the Barnes foundation. Before taking on the administration of the Foundation, she was a Director of Morven, and worked with the Historical Society in Princeton and other art and history-related organizations.
The Barnes Foundation is “an educational institution, not a museum,” our speaker informed us. It was not intended by the founder or trustees for the casual visitor, but was to serve serious students of art and art education, and perform research in those areas. The collection that Dr. Barnes amassed is almost overwhelming, especially the Foundation’s holdings in Impressionism. For example, the collection includes 181 works of Renoir, more than in all museums in Paris combined, plus 57 works of Cezanne and 59 of Matisse.
The founder of this remarkable institution was Alfred Barnes, born in 1872 in Philadelphia. He maintained a lifelong connection with Philadelphia, and founded his institute in Merion, just outside the city. By all accounts, Dr. Barnes was an extraordinarily brilliant and extremely difficult man. He earned his M.D. at age 20, practiced for a year, then turned to the study of chemistry. He and a partner developed Argyrol, a disinfectant still in use, that brought enormous wealth to Dr. Barnes.
Dr. Barnes was an admirer and became a close friend of John Dewey; that friendship helped Barnes to focus his foundation on the educational aspects of art. Barnes and his wife had no children, and in 1922 Barnes gave his collection of 700 works, plus a nine million dollar endowment, to establish the foundation. Barnes had special respect for and rapport with African-Americans, and the gallery includes a substantial collection of African art. In 1950 Barnes gave to Lincoln University, the oldest historically black college in the country, the authority to nominate four of the Foundation’s five trustees.
In his foundation’s indenture, Barnes stipulated that nothing in the collection could be sold or loaned, and visitors’ access was severely limited; the limitations derived, at least in part, from Barnes’s contentious relations with the art establishment in Philadelphia. The constraints on visitors were litigated during the 1950s, and in 1960 the general public was allowed some visits to the collection, although access was still tightly limited.
In the years after Barnes’s death, the endowment dwindled. When the gallery had to be closed for renovations, a part of the collection was permitted to tour to several U.S. museums.
After lengthy litigation, the Foundation was given permission in 2004 to move to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in center city Philadelphia. Still further lawsuits have been instigated, and the collection’s new home is still some years away.
Questions followed, including one on the estimated value of the collection. Ms. Croll suggested a range of six to 20 billion dollars.
Respectfully submitted,
James Deneen
The following guests were in attendance: Jack Reilly introduced Ed Weiss; Nick Wilson introduced his wife, Ruth; Ken Barnhart introduced is wife, Nancy; Perry Morgan introduced his wife, Liz; Cy Meisel introduced his wife, Jackie.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of two deceased members: Harry Kihn and Sanders Maxwell.
Four new members were elected: Donald Edwards, George Vaughn, Edmund Weiss jr. and Peter Wise.
Nick Wilson introduced our speaker, Emily Croll, Former Senior Administrative Officer of the Barnes foundation. Before taking on the administration of the Foundation, she was a Director of Morven, and worked with the Historical Society in Princeton and other art and history-related organizations.
The Barnes Foundation is “an educational institution, not a museum,” our speaker informed us. It was not intended by the founder or trustees for the casual visitor, but was to serve serious students of art and art education, and perform research in those areas. The collection that Dr. Barnes amassed is almost overwhelming, especially the Foundation’s holdings in Impressionism. For example, the collection includes 181 works of Renoir, more than in all museums in Paris combined, plus 57 works of Cezanne and 59 of Matisse.
The founder of this remarkable institution was Alfred Barnes, born in 1872 in Philadelphia. He maintained a lifelong connection with Philadelphia, and founded his institute in Merion, just outside the city. By all accounts, Dr. Barnes was an extraordinarily brilliant and extremely difficult man. He earned his M.D. at age 20, practiced for a year, then turned to the study of chemistry. He and a partner developed Argyrol, a disinfectant still in use, that brought enormous wealth to Dr. Barnes.
Dr. Barnes was an admirer and became a close friend of John Dewey; that friendship helped Barnes to focus his foundation on the educational aspects of art. Barnes and his wife had no children, and in 1922 Barnes gave his collection of 700 works, plus a nine million dollar endowment, to establish the foundation. Barnes had special respect for and rapport with African-Americans, and the gallery includes a substantial collection of African art. In 1950 Barnes gave to Lincoln University, the oldest historically black college in the country, the authority to nominate four of the Foundation’s five trustees.
In his foundation’s indenture, Barnes stipulated that nothing in the collection could be sold or loaned, and visitors’ access was severely limited; the limitations derived, at least in part, from Barnes’s contentious relations with the art establishment in Philadelphia. The constraints on visitors were litigated during the 1950s, and in 1960 the general public was allowed some visits to the collection, although access was still tightly limited.
In the years after Barnes’s death, the endowment dwindled. When the gallery had to be closed for renovations, a part of the collection was permitted to tour to several U.S. museums.
After lengthy litigation, the Foundation was given permission in 2004 to move to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in center city Philadelphia. Still further lawsuits have been instigated, and the collection’s new home is still some years away.
Questions followed, including one on the estimated value of the collection. Ms. Croll suggested a range of six to 20 billion dollars.
Respectfully submitted,
James Deneen