fair warning: on block island or manhattan or in missouri, we can be a little salty
3.20.2010
the amazing barnes collection
Yesterday, some 15 years after our first visit, Paula and I made a pilgrimage to Bala Cynwyd, Pa., to visit the world reknowned Barnes Collection. It has more French Impressionists than any museum I've ever seen, all displayed in weird wall designs interspersed with metal hardware—hinges and brackets and decorative wrought iron. Albert Barnes collected much of this art around the turn of the 20th Century before MOMA was dreamt of, before anyone in the U.S. had heard of Picasso or Matisse. And the riches in the little Philadelphia suburb are incredible. More Cezannes and Renoirs than you knew existed. In this cursory (and illegal) scan of one small room, there are a Soutine, one very atypical Picasso and a blue period Pierrot, many Matisses, a Modigliani, a clutch of Braques. There are also Monets, Manets, Rousseaus, Van Goghs—all in the plural. And African, Asian, Native American artifacts are in the mix too. Conglomerate would be the word. In a year, this collection, after many lawsuits and much conniving, will move to new quarters on Museum Row in Philadelphia. It will not be the same, but the paintings will still be—amazing.
I missed the part about you leaving NYC again?We were at the Barnes last spring...after 40 years of hearing about it ...well I think this guy was a compulsive painting collector...I was struck with the feeling that sometimes he took whatever he could get....some great some far from great...but all in all way ahead of his time....at the Musee d'art moderne in Paris there is a Matisse room...giant sketches simply called the "Barnes"....Matisse worked very hard for him not always so happily....thanks for the show...you illegal film maker...and how about those beautiful gardens? I thought it was in Merion Pa?
Yes, illegal picture making—which is why so unclear. Neruda, you're right: on the border of Bala Cynwyd actually in Merion—but don't you like trying to pronounce the other town better? And Paula is one of my oldest friends, my boss from my first job as copy clerk at People in 1974.
I missed the part about you leaving NYC again?We were at the Barnes last spring...after 40 years of hearing about it ...well I think this guy was a compulsive painting collector...I was struck with the feeling that sometimes he took whatever he could get....some great some far from great...but all in all way ahead of his time....at the Musee d'art moderne in Paris there is a Matisse room...giant sketches simply called the "Barnes"....Matisse worked very hard for him not always so happily....thanks for the show...you illegal film maker...and how about those beautiful gardens? I thought it was in Merion Pa?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed that - thanks!
ReplyDeleteBut who's Paula?
Yes, illegal picture making—which is why so unclear. Neruda, you're right: on the border of Bala Cynwyd actually in Merion—but don't you like trying to pronounce the other town better?
ReplyDeleteAnd Paula is one of my oldest friends, my boss from my first job as copy clerk at People in 1974.
Hey Claudia,
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I enjoyed that soooo much. So pleased you had the urge to take illegal pics.