The Barnes Foundation holds what is probably the most important collection of early modern painting in the United States. As many of you may know, it has been at the center of the type of complicated and nasty battle that could only happen when the art and the political worlds collide. The art school and museum is currently located in a suburb outside Philadelphia. Its founder, Albert C. Barnes, expressly stated in his will that his collection should stay there forever and never be moved, loaned or sold. Somehow, through the complex and convoluted maneuverings of politicians, charities, and beaurocrats, the entire collection will leave the home built for it by its founder and move to downtown Philadelphia in 2012.
The Art of the Steal is a feature-length documentary film that is currently in theaters and covers this story and controversy. It's unabashedly biased, and a lot of the people interviewed come across as preoccupied lunatics, but on the whole, it does a great job of presenting the history of the Barnes Foundation and the events that brought it to the place it is today. As an appraiser, what I found particularly interesting are the numbers thrown around about the value of the collection. The general consensus seems to be that it's valued between $25-30 billion. The collection is comprised of over 800 paintings 69 works by Cezanne, 181 by Renoir, and 59 others by Matisse. The collection is unparalleled by anything else that exists in the world, so giving it a market value would be an incredible challenge. The Dance mural, designed and painted on the walls of the foundation in 1932, is a site-specific work that has very few comparables in the world. His paintings on the walls of the chapel at Vence come to mind. Trying to estimate value for something this enormous with iconic paintings studied in every western art curriculum combined with site-specific installations is mind boggling, and I'm quite curious about where the $25-30 million value originated.
All in all, The Art of the Steal, is a fascinating look at what happens when the egos of art and politics collide.
