New Barnes Foundation Not As Good As Millions Of Dollars’ Worth Of Legendary Paintings In A Crazy Old Man’s House, But We Guess We’ll Take It
Before we go any further: Albert C. Barnes was a crazy old coot who knew a damned thing or two about art and culture, and the way his kooky vision has been railroaded into the city (and away from its natural, rightful home in Merion) is just straight up rotten. Does that mean we won’t check out the new Barnes Foundation when it opens? And does it also mean that, as fans of new things being built in the city, these new renderings released today (we first scoped them on the NY Times Artsbeat blog) don’t excite us? What are you, crazy? The man is dead! Look how awesome this is gonna be. More after the jump.
We like the 1950s-redux vibe of this great hall.
Here’s the aerial view from the Parkway. The Rodin Museum is already gettin’ salty.
For some reason, we’re also getting a very Ice Storm vibe here. Either that, or the Justice League Of America. Who knows, maybe Albert would have even liked it.
The Barnes included this particular aerial view so that international art thieves can start planning now. Welcome to our new readers in Denmark!
If your grandparents love you, they will take you here. If they don’t, they won’t.
And this is what it will look like in Mario Brothers: Barnes Edition.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Looks like an alien party tent is landing in the courtyard.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
When I went to the Barnes two weeks ago, the docent said that she had met the architect and she was sure that the plans would reflect the nature of Dr. Barnes and that every attempt would be made to keep the feel of his collection in the new space. Maybe she was talking about the inside of the building, because the outside looks like a giant middle finger to me.
The Barnes is such a treasure, and moving the collection is such a shame.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Damn, you’re right. That building is giving everyone the finger.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Collecting tons of great art: good.
Squirreling it away in the suburbs where few bother to visit: bad.
The Barnes Foundation, the city, and the state were right to move this stuff. He may not have wanted it that way, but really? Who cares?
October 6th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Great white obeliskock of the parkway!
October 6th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Too bad the front door is on the Whole Foods side and not on the Parkway…and I hope it isn’t too late for the city to know they can change that…but this will still be an amazing addition to the city.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Sigh. No point in even explaining why.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
The Parkway could’ve had the urbane excitement of the Champs Elysees but instead we keep plopping dreadful boxes on it, slowly building a lamer version of DC’s National Mall, only with a highway instead of a reflecting pool. What was wrong with reusing the Family Court building next to the library?
October 7th, 2009 at 10:16 am
i’m with articsplasher, zone some fucking commercial and residential here for real.
October 7th, 2009 at 11:05 am
the entrance is on 20th street, the whole foods side gets a parking lot. the parkway gets a garden + fountain plaza. i hope they put a cafe in the fountain plaza to encourage pedestrian traffic there.
October 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Kinda ugly. Buildings like that always make me think of an architect on an ego trip more than great design.Another classic example is the entrance to the Louvre. A design completely misplaced. I have yet to walk through that monstrosity. I always slip through the side entrance and avert my eyes
October 7th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
The NY Times spells out why this is a dead, homogenized mess. Sad that this argument has to be spelled out at all.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Whatever goes on that site should be contemporary (A new building in a Beaux Arts style would just look like a second-rate imitation). Old vs. new isn’t the issue. The real issue is: do we really want all of our cultural experiences standardized and predigested like this? And where is it written that all art now has to be easily accessible? The pilgrimage is a longstanding tradition in modern art: Robert Smithson, Fallingwater, Marfa, etc. Are we all mall rats now? Why can’t there be room for other ways of experiencing art rather than sterile white cubes that house ‘correctly’ curated collections? The fact that Barnes is dead is a silly argument: by that rationale, we should ignore the wishes of anyone who ever had a good or fun idea (Constitution, for starters).
October 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
@lord_whimsy,
Why should great art be difficult to see? Because it makes you feel cooler when you do?
October 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Whimsy, you’re spot on. Assuming that glowing coffin on top of this design isn’t an alternative energy source using a perpetually rolling Mr Barnes, this museo-box-2.0 can’t begin to compare with experiencing that art collection in the carefully crafted setting originally made for it. Its the difference between seeing a wild animal in a zoo and seeing one in the woods. Having the collection in our laps won’t make us appreciate it more – in fact proximity often has the opposite effect.
Last week’s Ken Burn’s doc on the National Parks hit this theme repeatedly: not everything can or should be monetized. Moving Barnes’ art to the Parkway may add a few coins to the region, but it kills another small piece of our regional soul. Any non-beleivers ought to check out the Lower Merion museum while you can – its worth the rental car and map and will change your mind about the proposed move.
October 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
@lord_whimsy
For the nation at large, visiting Philadelphia is a pilgrimage itself.
October 7th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
“this museo-box-2.0 can’t begin to compare with experiencing that art collection in the carefully crafted setting originally made for it.”
I’m not buying the argument that Mr. Barnes’ quirky hanging strategy enhances the art. Craning one’s neck to view a painting doesn’t make for a great viewing experience, and until Robert Venturi came along and re-lit the place, the lighting wasn’t all that great, either. As for Mr. Barnes’ wishes, well, I guess legal is legal, but culturally, museums are really custodians of art. Art belongs to everyone. There are legit arguments on either side about the dirty politics involved with how the moving deal went down, but not having to wait months for a timed ticket–the equivalent to Robert Moses building low highway bridges so city buses couldn’t reach the affluent burbs–is better civics.