Barnes Foundation

The magnificent Barnes Foundation boasts one of the world's most important art collections. Eccentric, ahead-of-his-time founder Albert Barnes (1872-1951) accumulated more than 1,000 works of genius -- 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 46 Picassos, innumerable Impressionists and post-Impressionists, early moderns, and a generous sampling of European art from the Italian primitives onward. (The collection includes virtually every first-rank European artist: Degas, Seurat, Bosch, Tintoretto, Lorrain, Chardin, Daumier, Delacroix, Corot . . . ) Barnes also gathered non-conventional art and artifacts: New Mexican rural icons; African tribal masks; Amish hope chests; antique door latches, keyholes, and keys; and ancient household tools. Then, he arranged (and rearranged) all of the above floor-to-ceiling salon-style in his French Provincial mansion (ca. 1925) on the outskirts of the city in suburban Merion. By all accounts, he figured this arrangement would exist that way in perpetuity. Apparently, he was wrong.

At the time of this writing, the entire collection is slated to make a controversial move in early 2012 to Center City's museum district, the corner of Ben Franklin Parkway and 20th Street. From the outside, the "new" Barnes, designed by New York architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, could not be any more different from its predecessor. Modern and boxy, the U-shaped building stands out via a steel-and-glass "light box" overhang that reaches out toward next-door neighbor Rodin Museum.

Still, the architects and design team promise that the interior will be unmistakably Barnes-ian and will strongly recall that quirkily stunning Provincial manse. Supporters say the move makes the collection more accessible. Detractors argue it violates Barnes' wish to keep the collection out of the city (an argument articulated in the fiery documentary, The Art of the Steal).

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