The Barnes Foundation: I Think He Had a Man- Crush on Renoir

My summer session Art History class, “Picasso and the Modern Masters” brought me on my first trip to the Barnes Foundation.

Which is actually pretty funny considering I’ve been living in this city for years, and have visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art a million times, yet I have not made it to the Barnes which right down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the PMA.

I actually work at the PMA once a month with the Family Programs Department, but that’s another story.

The story behind the Barnes Foundation is strange. Dr. Albert Barnes was a Philadelphia native who became immensely wealthy at a very young age. As a chemist he discovered a remedy for infants contracting gonorrhea from their mothers, his method is still used today. So he used his riches to collect art, LOTS of it. It’s actually fairly obnoxious.

He covered the walls of his home in famous works by Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and particularly Renoir. Everywhere you look there is more and more Pierre Auguste Renoir. I mean, I’m not complaining, he is one of my favorites, but after 3 floors of it, it becomes a little much.

I do love me some Renoir.

Dr. Barnes made himself the artist by arranging his art. So when the museum moved from Chestnut Hill to Center City Philly, it was most important to leave the displays as Barnes had.

It’s 3 floors of this, see what I mean by a little much?

With all of these priceless works squished together with no room to breathe, none of them really get the respect they deserve. But I guess when you’re a gazillionaire you can hang your art however you want.

All that being said, getting lost in the Barnes is a lovely way to spend an afternoon, especially if you have a crush on Renoir like me and Dr. Barnes!

 

Jen