The Barnes Foundation’s Move to the Parkway Approved

The wonderful collection of Dr. Albert Barnes, including hundreds of paintings of the Impressionist Masters, is soon to be relocated to a new site on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The highly anticipated decision was rendered by Judge Stanley Ott, and unless the students who protested the move file an appeal, it appears as though the new building will go under construction within about a year.

The Foundation has had a stormy and troubled relationship with Lower Merion Township and its neighbors on Latches Lane for several decades. Hundreds of visitors to and from the Museum weekly did not mix well with the large estates of this sedate neighborhood. Mr. Barnes imposed many unusual (some would say quirky) restrictions upon the Trustees, and it appeared as though the Foundation with perhaps billions of dollars worth of paintings might even be forced into bankruptcy which could threaten the existence of the collection as it is today.

The Foundation’s restrictions, among other things, dealt with the number of people who might be permitted to visit the museum, the precise placement of the paintings on the walls, and the ability of the Trustees to lend the paintings to other museums. Twice previously the Montgomery County Orphans’ Court has issued rulings which have chipped away at the restrictions Dr. Barnes had imposed. Most recently, with the Court’s approval, the Trustees were permitted to mount a traveling exhibition of several of the works which traveled internationally and was wildly popular (and raised something like $6,000,000 for the Foundation).

Because the Foundation’s ability to raise funds is so constricted, the paradoxical insolvency developed. Short of liquidation of many of its precious assets, there was no solution in sight. Then came a consortium of large charitable groups led by the Pew Foundation which offered to provide the Trustees with $100,000,000 to build a new museum and relocate to the Parkway; an additional $50,000,000 was offered to provide a much needed endowment, contingent upon the move.

Although the people offering these funds agreed that in the new building the rooms would be configured identically to those in the present building; the paintings and other objects (including several from Africa) would be placed in an identical juxtaposition in the new building; and the school at the existing museum would be maintained. Many art critics and students expressed vehement opposition.

The matter went back to Judge Ott who over a period of two years held several hearings and eventually supported the decision of the Trustees to move. So important is this decision that it won vast coverage in the various national media, including a major illustrated article on page one of the New York Times.

The City moved quickly to make available the site of the Child Study Center on the Parkway, which already contains an intense concentration of cultural institutions including The Art Museum and its Perelman annex, the Rodin Museum, the Free Library (with its astounding trove of Philadelphia memorabilia), the Academy of Natural Science, and the Franklin Institute. The Free Library is preparing to add a beautiful annex to its building which is directly across 20th Street from the Barnes site, and it is possible that the heirs of Alexander Calder will give their enormous collection of his works to the City, to be housed in a lovely new museum directly across the Parkway from the Barnes site.

Judge Ott acknowledged the howl of protests but found that the Foundation’s finances are in desperate straits which left him no alternative but to permit the move. As a rule, wishes expressed by authors of wills and trusts are virtually sacrosanct, especially if they are clearly expressed and capable of execution; but where as here conditions evolve to a point where the desires of the decedent can no longer be fulfilled, and the estate is in jeopardy, courts will permit modification, however reluctantly.

Whatever the merits of the move, anyone who has an interest in art, and the Barnes collection in particular, can only hope that this precious asset will no longer be at peril and that whoever is chosen as the architect for the new museum will design a building worthy of this treasure. And Philadelphians can revel in the enhancement the move will bring to their Parkway.

— Ken Butera