The Barnes Foundation Offers Special Evening Lecture,
Looking at Renior: Dr. Barnes' Passion for the Great French Painter
MERION, PA, March 6, 2006 - Over the course of four decades, from roughly the beginning of
World War I through the end of World War II, Dr. Albert C. Barnes assembled the largest
collection in the world of artworks by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. These were years when the French
master's reputation rose to its height, and collectors around the world were avidly pursuing his
work. But for tenacity, perseverance, and systematic appetite, no one came close to Dr. Barnes,
who acquired one lithograph, one pastel, one sculpture, and 178 paintings.
What made Renoir's art so fascinating to collectors in general during this period, and to
Dr. Barnes in particular? How did Renoir come to occupy such an important position in the
Barnes collection, and what distinguished Dr. Barnes's taste from that of other collectors? On
Thursday, April 6, art historian Martha Lucy will explore these questions and more during a
special lecture titled Looking at Renoir: Dr. Barnes's Passion for the Great French Painter,
given in the main gallery of The Barnes Foundation, 300 North Latch's Lane, Merion, PA, from
7 to 8 p.m.
The lecture will offer a rare inside look at the Foundation's collection and the personality
who assembled it. Dr. Lucy, a specialist in nineteenth-century French art, currently holds the
position of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow in Renoir Studies at The Barnes Foundation,
where she is conducting research under the auspices of the Collection Assessment Project. Using
several key paintings as the focus of her lecture, she will discuss the history of Dr. Barnes's
collecting and his personal views of Renoir. She also will explore broader issues of taste and will
address Renoir's complex role in the modernist movement.
In 1912, when Dr. Barnes acquired his first work by Renoir, the French poet and critic
Guillaume Apollinaire described the artist as "the greatest painter of our time and one of the
greatest painters of all times." A few years later, the Paris-based, American-born connoisseur
Leo Stein (who corresponded frequently with Dr. Barnes) wrote that "Renoir lovers are
insatiable collectors of his pictures have them by the scores..." Dr. Barnes was no exception,
and the story of his collecting gives a unique perspective on the prestige and popularity of
Renoir.
Tickets to the lecture are available by advance reservation only, at a cost of $35 for the
general public and $25 for members of The Barnes Society. Tickets include admission to the
galleries, which will be open from 6 to 7 pm. For reservations, the public may call 610.667.0290,
x 2255.
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300 North Latch's Lane
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