Albert C. Barnes, the founder of the Barnes Foundation, was a billionaire art lover known for his brilliance in business but also for being “emotionally, socially incredibly stupid.”
A new 403-page biography by art critic Blake Gopnik, “The Maverick’s Museum: Albert Barnes and His American Dream,” is being released this week on the 100th anniversary of the official dedication ceremony for the Barnes Foundation. Gopnik spent hundreds of hours immersed in Barnes’ letters, writings, and other materials to produce this in-depth account.
He was especially struck by Barnes’ support for Black culture and society, which ran deeper than previously understood, particularly given the racist climate of early 20th-century America. Barnes’ theories on how to look at and think about art were cutting-edge for their time. He championed formalist art criticism, which emphasizes elements like line, shape, and color while ignoring the subject matter.
This approach significantly influenced American art criticism. Reflecting on the Barnes Foundation’s move from its original setting to the Parkway, Gopnik argues that the art belonging to rich patrons ultimately belongs to the people. The relocation has allowed a broader audience to access and appreciate the collection.
In 1912, Barnes was determined to acquire works by contemporary European masters. He reached out to his old classmate William Glackens, who helped Barnes navigate the art world and shift focus from outdated pieces to more modern styles. Glackens set off to Paris with a draft for $20,000, ready to purchase significant works.
By the end of two weeks, he had secured 33 works, including the first van Gogh to be displayed in the United States. This portrait, painted in 1889, was noteworthy for its “kaleidoscopic” colors and brushwork.
Barnes’ unique approach to art
The arrival of these artworks at Barnes’ mansion marked a significant moment in American art history. Despite their tame appearance to contemporary eyes, these pieces had a profound impact and underlined Barnes’ success in acquiring pioneering modern art. Barnes believed in the liberating power of art, but he insisted that it be viewed his way.
The Barnes Foundation displays its collection in symmetrical “ensembles,” guided by formal characteristics such as color, line, and space. Barnes was also infamous for his difficult personality. He was thin-skinned, bellicose, distrustful, fickle, and vindictive.
His verbal attacks could be witty but more often relied on scatology, ethnic slurs, and sexual taunts. Despite his eccentricities, Barnes’s instincts were remarkably good. He began buying African sculpture in 1922 and amassed an important collection.
He bought old masters whose agitation or distortions recalled the moderns he loved. He purchased Egyptian and Greco-Roman antiquities and repudiated the distinction between “art” and “craft.”
Barnes believed that “plain people of average intelligence” could be brought to the kind of art apotheosis he had experienced, just by knowing how to look. He derided art history as a discipline and art scholars individually, but he couldn’t abandon the idea that he himself had expertise in his field.
Albert Barnes’s legacy is a reflection of his complex personality and unconventional approach to art and education. His foundation remains one of the world’s most impressive collections and a testament to his vision, however eccentric.
Photo by; Alexander Grey on Unsplash
