Architect Robert Venturi slams planned Barnes Foundation move

Robert Venturi, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect and lifelong resident of Philadelphia, has written a stinging letter in opposition to a controversial plan to dismantle the suburban Barnes Foundation and relocate its unparalleled collection of postimpressionist and early Modern art from its specially designed 1925 building to a new, tourist-friendly structure near downtown.

The schematic design for the new building is scheduled to be unveiled Wednesday in Philadelphia.

In a letter to opponents of the move obtained by The Times, Venturi decries the $200-million project as “an indiscrete and ridiculous waste of money.” The celebrated architect is the most prominent cultural figure in the city to publicly oppose the plan, which was initiated by a powerful group of local philanthropies, politicians and business interests.

The Barnes collection in suburban Lower Merion Township includes 69 paintings by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse, 46 by Picasso, seven by Van Gogh and scores more by Renoir, Degas, Modigliani, Soutine and many other Modern masters. They were acquired in the early 20th century by pharmaceuticals manufacturer Albert C. Barnes, who died in a 1951 automobile accident.

The letter focuses on the artistic damage Venturi believes will be caused by the move:

The current building in Merion was designed specifically for the Barnes collection by Paul Cret in collaboration with Dr. Barnes as owner/curator. The building and site design are an integral part of the collection, and vice versa. Separating them vastly diminishes the value and purpose of both.

Reached in Philadelphia on Monday, Venturi extolled "the force of contrast" offered by Cret's classical building, the Modern paintings inside and the extensive garden outside. Removing the collection, he said, will destroy that unique context.

Cret was a French American architect who applied classical Beaux Arts traditions to Modernist forms and who headed the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania for three decades. Venturi taught at Penn for 11 years, also serving as architect Louis Kahn’s teaching assistant there. Kahn had studied under Cret and later worked in Cret’s office.

Venturi, 84, was named a Pritzker Laureate, the highest honor for an architect, in 1991. His letter was sent to the Friends of the Barnes Foundation, a group that has been fighting the move since it was approved by a local court nearly five years ago. The long-delayed project was supposed to break ground this fall.

Controversy over the plan has heated up in recent weeks, following the first public screenings of "The Art of the Steal,” a well-reviewed documentary film on behind-the-scenes maneuvers for the move by wealthy and influential members of the Philadelphia establishment. Currently being shown at the New York Film Festival, the film had its debut last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was one of relatively few movies to secure a national distribution deal, beginning next spring. A second sold-out screening in New York was added for Tuesday afternoon to accommodate wide interest.

In his missive Venturi also questions the sizable expenditure of funds for the move at a time of deep economic distress. State lawmakers stunned the local arts community in September by proposing to charge a sales tax on tickets at museums and performing-arts theaters to generate about $100 million in annual revenue. The tax would be 8%  in Philadelphia and 6% elsewhere.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has committed $30-million in state funds to move the Barnes.

Written three days after the so-called "culture tax" was revealed, Venturi’s letter says “the expenditure of $200-300 million for a new site and building seems an indiscrete and ridiculous waste of money when existing museums and libraries are undergoing major budget cuts." He added that the original Barnes building and site "work perfectly well for the collection.”

The letter, dated Sept. 23, was disclosed to coincide with Wednesday’s press conference to unveil schematic plans for the Barnes’ new home, originally budgeted at $100 million. New York architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien were awarded the commission two years ago, selected in a competition from among six finalists. The 120,000-square-foot site on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is about eight miles from the current building in residential Merion.

The Barnes Foundation is a school located within a 12-acre arboretum that is integral to the building and exhibition concept. When Henri Matisse visited from France in 1933 to install his "Dance" mural, commissioned for three lunettes of Cret’s main gallery, he described the ensemble of architecture, art and gardens as “the only sane place” for aesthetic experience that he had seen in America.

Click here to see Venturi's letter.

--Christopher Knight

Photos: Robert Venturi, credit: George Widman, Associated Press; Paul Cret's 1925 Barnes Foundation building, credit: Brad C. Bower, Associated Press

 

Comments

[CJD]

"Separating them vastly diminishes the value and purpose of both."

—Quotation of the Day.

[Felix Martin]

No art collection I have ever visited has had as lasting an impact on me as the Barnes collection. The current attempt to move the collection from its current location to a Disneyfied display in Philadelphia is an obvious civic power grab focused only on the monetary value of the collection. Any museum with an art trove as rich as the Barnes' would poseess a financially enviable collection of art, but none with the educational and emotional value intended and achieved at its current location by the late Dr. Barnes.

[Sam Pimento]

I love the Barnes Collection, which I began visiting twenty years ago. Venturi's letter does not address the problems of accessibility in the current location. Since the number of visitors is so strictly limited, one has to make arrangements to visit weeks in advance, and Barnes made no allowance for the public to view the collection in his will, and it is only as a result of Walter Annenberg's lawsuit that the public can visit at all. The "Friends of the Barnes" are the same Barnes neighbors who sued to keep the number of visitors down. And then of course The Barnes ran out of money, due to the mismanagement of a board populated by Barnes' friends. Many of the enemies of the move, like Venturi, argue that the building is somehow equal to the paintings, but it's the paintings that draw visitors there. Perhaps it's not surprising that an architect would claim that the work of Cret is as important as the works of Matisse, Modigliani, Soutine, etc. in the collection. The current Barnes is a disaster in a number of other ways: until recently, there was no climate control, so many of the works have become damaged. Works on paper have been burned by constant exposure to light, and there is paint flaking off some of the pictures, since Barnes banned conservators. People like Christopher Knight like to portray Barnes as some kind of populist because he hired John Dewey, but the fact is that he would have preferred to keep his paintings locked in his mansion and share them with no one. I am so glad that this great collection will be in a place where it will be enjoyed by the general public. It will no doubt have a positive influence on all who see it.

[Elshemus]

I am not sure that we should consider the opinions of someone who wrote a book called "Learning From Las Vegas" as authoritative in any way.

[Silence Dogood]

Everything said by Pimento below could easily be dealt with in Merion for far less money than the wasteful Move. Pew & other out of touch Rich People & politicians have been in control of The Barnes for over 6 years and they have still refused to allow any WALK-UP attendance in Merion or even put a billboard on the PA-Tpike (IS this HYPOCRITAL OR CULTURAL SUPPRESSION OF THE BEAUTY OF THE MERION BARNES BY THE PRO-MOVE FORCES?). In addition, if they were worried about the dangers of natural light, they could have taken steps in 2002 to install state of the art filtered lighting in Merion for a small fraction of the cost of The Move. IF THESE CONSERVATION ISSUES ARE SO IMPORTANT DOES THAT MEAN THE CURRENT TRUSTEES ARE NEGLIGENT FOR NOT IMPLEMENTING THEM IN 2002 Mr. 'Sour' Sam Pimento? Accessibility could be solved if they installed a monorail or green bus system from a Center City Cultural orientation site which would operate as a tourist-friendly space to promote all the region's cultural attractions. The Barnes Move is the Greatest Abuse of our Nation's Cultural Trust since the land barons tried to obstruct the formation of the National Parks. The Antiquities Act should be involed by Obama to save The Barnes In Merion. The Barnes in Merion, in its harmonies of art, serenity, architecture and God's natural beauty contains answers to questions we haven't even learned to ask yet. THE MOVE IS A DISGRACE TO THIS NATION.

[Orhan Ayyuce, architect]

Mr. Venturi is right on his opinion and his argument makes all the sense.
Btw, "Learning From Las Vegas" is one of the seminal written architectural works of the 20th. century and widely read and thought in architecture schools world over. Mr. Venturi's views are certainly welcome in this boring climate of confirmist world.

[jonny slick]

In his will, Barnes stipulated that none of the works in his collection could be reproduced, so art history textbook publishers had to find images of works by Matisse, Cezanne, Van Gogh et al. in his collection from before he owned them, so they were reproduced in books only in black and white. Obviously, he had no interest in sharing his art with anyone. Van Gogh, who was a lay minister who gave away all his belongings before becoming a painter, would not have approved. If you were able to finagle an invitation to see the collection, the odds were pretty good that Barnes would expose himself to you! I'm not making this stuff up! The "keep the Barnes in Merion" crowd is a fringe group, like the "birthers."

[Billy Sin]

Billy Tsien is quoted as saying she is paying homage to Venturi in this design: maybe she should listen to his objection to the Move and refuse this commission like a decent person. Also, Johnny Slick will probably get to see lots of homeless people exposing themselves in the underbrush at the Parkway Site... all them bushes & benches will make it homeless central. And, Mr. Slick, the Pro Move people are the fringe group (their friends are the JAILED Vinny Fumo who appropriated $107mn in State Tax dollars to encourage the breach of the Barnes Indenture in violation the Dartmouth College v. Woodward US Supreme Court case of 1819 and Gov. Ed Rendell who gave $30mn in PA tax money to the Move which is supported by Barnes Pro-Move Trustee Aileen Roberts of The Roberts Comcast family from whom Ed Rendell gets a paycheck as an Eagles commentator - why doesn't the FBI investigate the Rendell/Roberts/Comcast Relationship for a violation of the PA Ethics & Adverse Interest laws?).
(P.S. the Tsien video seems to say they are putting "inserts" in the galleries which means more litigation because they aren't following Judge Ott's Order to maintain the same configuration of the Galleries. But I guess laws don't apply to these Rich people do they? - that's what our kids are learning from this debacle.)

[joe]

the barnes move is a disaster for everyone. it just shows the rich control the art world

[Cate]

Stop the move! This change in venue sucks! I want my money back! This is a total waste of money and a complete rip off!

Uh-oh . . .

Oops. I’m a Pee Wee Herman fan. Guess I’m posting in the wrong spot, but the stories were so similar that it got me kind of confused. This happens to me a lot. Sorry. I feel like a complete jerk now, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

But seriously folks, what I meant to say here is that average American idiots (like me) might actually learn something about the issue and develop an informed opinion about it, if it were properly drawn to our attention. This calls for widespread public opposition. So sound the alarm!

Nick! Heath! Jared! There’s a fire in the Barnes!!! (Hey, it worked for Stephen Stucker.)

[Hanna Barbera]

Actually, after the first formal condition assessment of the collections at the Barnes, it was found that the artwork is in remarkably good condition. And, it's really not hard to get to see the Barnes collection - just use the easy form on the website and you'll have tickets in no time. You can see great art anywhere, but will never experience the sense of being completely overwhelmed partnered with the intimacy of the Barnes. Go now - it'll be gone soon!

[Tara]

collections that are "housed" like the barnes and the phillips in d.c. are different than those that are "held" or "exhibited" by museums. the art is at home.

[Ellie]

After viewing The Art of the Steal and visiting various related webites, I feel heartbroken about the impending move of this amazing collection from its home in Merion.
The opportunity to see these works of art as this passionate collector intended will be forever lost. The arrangement of the works, the design of the building and the grounds evolved from the love of art and the intention to educate, and can not be replicated.I imagine that the spirit of the place and of those who lived and worked there cannot be imitated, and I intend to travel to Merion to experience it for myself before it is too late. It is obvious that viable solutions to to the problems of upgrading, maintaining and accessing this site and the collection are are being discarded for political and financial gain at a huge cost financially and to the human spirit.

[S A Robinson]

Correct: to keep the Barnes Collection in its original form in Merion. Use the money to be spent on a Philadelphia museum building for the care of the collection. My visit to the Barnes while a once in a lifetime visit was truly memorable.
Option: in this day of digital media, access to the collection can be universal for much less cost than a new building in Philadelphia, plus, it would inspire people to make the effort to visit the original art in its original architectural context.
Can you imagine a new building in Philadelphia that could "house" the digital experience of the Barnes Collection? While the best experience of art is the experience of the original, a digital experience could introduce many more people to the Barnes and encourage them to see the collection in its original Cret designed building.

[St Mark]

Keep the Barnes where it is. Respect the explicit wishes (which are legally binding) of the collector and owner.

Now that money was raised, use it to maintain the Barnes as intended, not to corrupt it into another vulgar profit machine like the "blockbuster" exhibits at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which are so overbooked that one can hardly enjoy the art as one is herded along like a head of cattle.

[jane]

Its too bad that some people just can't leave well enough alone. Why should this place be replaced? If its broken fix it if not...well..you know..LEAVE IT ALONE...my opinion.