The New Barnes Foundation
Today, the new Barnes Foundation is the furthest thing from the cozy-looking tudor mansion with inviting gardens. It is a rectangular concrete building that looks very cold and uninviting. Inside, there is everything you would expect from a museum; security guards, a coffee shop, a staff of curators, and a gift shop. Inside of this monolith of concrete and steel, there is a recreation of the layout how the paintings were hung in Albert Barnes’ home.
There are strict rules that guests cannot get too close to the artwork, and if you ask an employee, “who owns this artwork?” they get very uncomfortable, and quickly change the subject. To their credit, the employees who work there tried to carry on the traditions that Albert Barnes set out, and they will happily tell you how he invented antiseptic to save babies’ eyesight.
This new museum charges $30 per ticket, and it attracts visitors from all around the world. Just like the Louvre in Paris, The Barnes Foundation has become a new global tourist destination because of its priceless works of art that are on display. The city is making more money by renting out hotel rooms, selling food, etc., so it has helped the Philadelphia have some hope to escape their debt. Since its opening in 2012, the museum has had over a million visitors, meaning that they earned $30 million from displaying stolen property.
So, was all of this art even worth stealing? Depends on who you ask. The museum cost $200 million to build (even though the art was free.) So, even though $30 million in 5 years sounds impressive, that’s not taking overhead expenses and taxes into consideration, and to this day, they still have not paid off their original debt. The Philadelphia Inquirer raves about its “success”, while the Los Angeles Times has called it a “financial failure”, especially if the original foundation wins the case and takes their stolen property back.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Art Of The Steal: Actual Heist, Or Conspiracy Theory? Joel Rose. NPR.
Albert C. Barnes. Wikipedia.
The Art of The Steal. YouTube.
Lawyer: Shocking New Evidence in Barnes Foundation Case. Cheryl Allison. The Times Herald. 2012.
The Barnes Foundation Move to Philadelphia- And Possible Oblivion. Los Angeles Times.