New Documentary About the Massive Art Collection of Albert C. Barnes

Art of the Steal is a new documentary about the mulit-billion dollar art collection of Albert C. Barnes. 

When Barnes died in 1951, his will left specific directions for his collection of Renoirs, Cezannes, Matisses, Picassos, Monets, and Van Goghs.  He directed that his collection never be moved from the Barnes Foundation location outside the city limits of Philadelphia and that it never be sold, keeping it out of the control of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and other Philadelphia elites.  

According to Ty Burr, The Art of the Steal, Boston Globe, March 12, 2010, “‘The Art of the Steal’ is about how Albert Barnes’s will — in both senses of the word — was broken piece by piece over the years by many zealously interested parties. At this point, after the elites whom Barnes detested mounted an assault on the foundation’s board, the collection is slated to move in 2012 to a new facility in downtown Philadelphia, right next to the Museum of Art.”    

A fascinating trailer for the documentary is below, which includes a clip that compares the relocation of the Barnes collection to the art vandalism that occurred during World War II: 

Ty Burr, The Art of the Steal, Boston Globe, March 12, 2010; Chris Lee, ‘The Art of the Steal’ wades into the move of the Barnes collection, LA Times, March 11, 2010.

Special thanks to Ann Murphy (associate professor, Gonzaga) for brining this to my attention.