Art held hostage : the story of the Barnes collection / John Anderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, John, 1954 March 27-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Barnes, Albert C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951.

Barnes, Albert C.

Glanton, Richard.

Barnes Foundation--Management.

Barnes Foundation.

Art--Private collections--Pennsylvania--Merion.

Art.

Art--Private collections.

Management.

Pennsylvania--Merion.

Physical Description:

xiv, 237 pages, 28 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2003]

Summary:

This is the story of how a fabled art foundation -- the greatest collection of impressionist and postimpressionist art in America -- came to be, and why it is now, thanks to more than a decade of legal squabbling, on the brink of financial collapse. The Barnes Collection has been conservatively valued at more than $6 billion and includes some 69 Cezannes (more than in all the museums of Paris combined), 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos, 18 Rousseaus, 14 Modiglianis, and no fewer than 180 Renoirs. Yet the Barnes is in crisis. Its founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951), grew up in the slums of late-nineteenth-century Philadelphia only to become first a physician and later a pharmaceutical king. By 1920, this self-made man was already well on his way to becoming one of the great art collectors of his day.

But this is also the story of Richard Glanton, who escaped poverty in rural Georgia to become a high-flying, politically powerful Philadelphia lawyer. It was Glanton who took the Barnes art on its celebrated worldwide tour, renovated the galleries -- and presided over a decade of expensive litigation. The most famous of these court cases -- this one in federal court -- pitted the Barnes against its wealthy neighbors. The goal: A 52-car parking lot for the Barnes. The cost: more than $6 million in legal fees. Today, Glanton is no longer president of the Barnes, and the new board is seeking to move the collection into the city -- and vacate Dr. Barnes' trust indenture. Yet another court case will decide whether they can or not. The battle of the Barnes has only just begun.

Contents:

Introduction: This Paradise of Art 1

Chapter 1 Portrait of Dr. Barnes 7

Chapter 2 De Medici in Merion 31

Chapter 3 The Mysterious Miss de Mazia 48

Chapter 4 Lincoln Takes Command 57

Chapter 5 Meet Richard Glanton 73

Chapter 6 Into the Brightness of the Future 85

Chapter 7 The Subject Was Chest Hair 97

Chapter 8 Trying to Reform Richard 105.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0393048896

OCLC:

51116706