1872

January 2: Born in Kensington, a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood, at 1466 Cook Street (now Wilt Street).

1880

Barnes attended an African American camp revival meetings with his mother, where he was inspired to a lifelong interest in African American arts and social issues.

1889

Received a B.S. degree from Central High School in Philadelphia, a pre-eminent public secondary school. Classmates included artists William Glackens and John Sloan.

1892

Graduated from University of Pennsylvania Medical School; worked for two years as a demonstrator of chemistry at Penn.

1894-95

Studied in Germany at the University of Berlin.

1895-1900

Worked as a consulting chemist for the H. K. Mulford Company in Philadelphia.

1900

Studied pharmacology and completed a "Doktorarbeit" (dissertation) at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in Heidelberg, Germany.

1901

June 4: Married Laura Leggett of Brooklyn, New York, in Saint James' Church in Brooklyn. Honeymooned in Europe. The couple settled on Drexel Rd. in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia.

1902

Established Barnes and Hille with partner Herman Hille, and manufactured pharmaceuticals, including Argyrol, a silver-based compound used to fight infections.

c. 1905

Dr. and Mrs. Barnes built a new house on North Latch's Lane called "Lauraston," their first residence in Merion.

1907

Barnes bought out Herman Hille's portion of Barnes and Hille, and the two dissolved their partnership.

1908

Established the A.C. Barnes Company with factories in Philadelphia, London and Australia; Barnes mounted the first successful marketing effort of medical supplies directly to physicians and hospitals.

1912

At Barnes's request, artists William Glackens and Alfred Henry Maurer visited galleries in Paris and purchased Modern paintings for Dr. Barnes, including Van Gogh's Postman and Picasso's Woman with a Cigarette. In June, Barnes visited Paris himself, and purchased several paintings including Paul Gauguin's Haere Pape.

In December Barnes met Leo Stein, brother of writer Gertrude Stein, in Paris. The two men maintained an intensive correspondence until Stein's death in 1947.

Began holding classes on the study of psychology and art for workers at the A. C. Barnes Company factory. Paintings by William Glackens, Ernest Lawson, and Maurice Prendergast were hung in the factory building for the employees to study and discuss.

1915

Barnes published his first article, "How to Judge a Painting," in Arts and Decoration.

1917

Attended noted educator John Dewey's seminar at Columbia University to study his scientific method in education. The two became lifelong friends and collaborators.

1922

Purchased Merion property of Joseph Lapsley Wilson, promising to maintain and expand the arboretum Wilson began in the 1880s.

December 4: The Barnes Foundation was chartered by the State of Pennsylvania to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" and the "encouragement of arboriculture and forestry." Transferred the majority of his personal art collection, the buildings planned for the Wilson property, and a sizeable endowment to the Foundation.

Purchased Matisse's Joy of Life. Began correspondence with art dealer Paul Guillaume, purchasing large numbers of African sculpture for the collection.

1923

John Dewey named director of education of the Barnes Foundation.

Exhibited seventy-five paintings, including works by Chäim Soutine, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Alexis Gritchenko, Moïse Kisling, Hèlène Perdriat, Irène Lagut, Jacques Lipchitz, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

1923-1924

Constructed the current Gallery, residence (now administration building), and service buildings, designed in the French Beaux-Arts style by Paul Philippe Cret, architect of the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Rodin Museum.

Commissioned Jacques Lipchitz to carve seven bas-relief sculptures for the exterior of the Gallery and residence. Barnes also commissioned the Enfield Pottery and Tile Works to create the Gallery vestibule ceramic tile work, with designs based on Barnes's own collection of African art, particularly a Baule door now located on the mezzanine of the Gallery.

1925

March 19: Dedication ceremony for the Gallery. Speeches given by John Dewey and Leopold Stokowski, legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Purchased Cézanne's The Card Players (Les joueurs des cartes).

Published first book, The Art in Painting, still used today as the basis for the Foundation's art education courses.

1926

Barnes appointed Paris dealer Paul Guillaume as foreign secretary for the Foundation.

February 26: Barnes named Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by French Government.

1929

Sold A.C. Barnes Company.

1931

Commissioned Matisse to paint a mural, The Dance, for three lunettes in the Main Gallery.

1933

May: The Dance mural installed in the Gallery by Matisse with the aid of Albert Nulty, Barnes's curator and conservator.

Purchased Cézanne's Nudes in Landscape (Les grandes baigneuses).

1936

July 27. Named Officier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur, by the French Government.

1940

Laura Barnes established the Foundation's Arboretum School. First classes were given on October 1, taught by Laura Barnes, John M. Fogg of the University of Pennsylvania, and Frederick W. G. Peck of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Dr. Barnes purchased Ker-Feal, an 18th-century farmhouse in Chester County. Ker-Feal is Breton for "House of Fidèle," after Barnes's favorite dog. Added two wings to the house to display his collection of decorative arts and furniture. The gardens were developed by Laura Barnes and used in Arboretum School classes.

1950

Amended bylaws enabling the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University, one of America's first historically African American universities, to nominate four of the five trustees of the Barnes Foundation, upon the demise of all original trustees.

1951

June 5: Received Honorary Doctor of Science from Lincoln University.

July 24: Died in an automobile accident at age 78.