Profile & Chronology
Dr. Albert Barnes established The Barnes Foundation in 1922 as a school dedicated to the
advancement of education and the appreciation of fine arts and horticulture. The Foundation
carries out its mission through teaching, research and other programs related to its Art
department and Arboretum, as well as through public access to the gallery, which houses its main
collection of paintings, sculpture and other works of art. Through its formal educational
programs, and by providing public access to its wealth of art spanning many centuries and crossing
many cultures, The Barnes Foundation remains an affirmation of Dr. Barnes's belief that human
creative genius is not bounded by race, ethnicity or nationality.
The Barnes Foundation houses one of the world's finest collections of French Post-Impressionist
and early Modern paintings. An extraordinary number of masterpieces by Renoir (181), Cézanne (69)
and Matisse (60) provide a depth of work by these artists unavailable elsewhere. The collection
also includes important works by Picasso, Seurat, Rousseau, Modigliani, Soutine, Monet, Manet,
Degas and others. European artists of the 14th through 18th centuries represented in the
collection include Giorgione, Bosch, Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt,
van Ruysdael, Hals, Watteau, Canaletto and Chardin.
Given equal standing in the installation are first-rate holdings of African sculpture, decorative
arts and furniture, ceramics, hand-wrought iron, Native American jewelry, sculpture from ancient
Egypt, Greece and Rome, and art objects from Chinese, Thai, Indian, Central Asian and Mexican
traditions. The Barnes Foundation is much more than an art collection- it is the vibrant
reflection of a life inspired by humanity and creative expression.
Ker-feal was acquired by Dr. Barnes in 1940. Named for his Brittany Spaniel, Fidele, it is a 1775
classic four over four farmhouse to which were added two additions using period stone and lumber
from area buildings. Barnes outfitted the estate with 18th century decorative arts for the
purposes of teaching decorative arts and antique furniture, using the same principles he and
Dewey had developed for the main campus. Included in the collections are pewter, furniture,
ceramics, textiles, and iron objects primarily from central Pennsylvania. The estate includes
137 acres of prime farmland. Mrs. Barnes often duplicated plantings of specimen trees at Ker-feal,
resulting in a plethora of native and non-native trees and shrubs. In Dr. Barnes' Last Will and
Testament, he transferred Ker-feal to The Foundation to be used as a living museum of art and a
botanical garden.
The archives contain more than 800,000 historic documents from 1902 to 1951, of which some 60,000
have now been digitized. These holdings include personal papers, manuscripts, correspondence and
items documenting Dr. Barnes's collection and educational philosophy. The range of correspondence
is breathtaking. Some of the many people with whom Dr. Barnes corresponded were Thomas Hart
Benton, Bertrand Russell, Charles S. Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, Georgia O'Keeffe, Albert
Einstein and the philosopher John Dewey, who served as The Foundation's first Director of
Education.
| 1872 |
Albert C. Barnes was born on January 2 in Kensington, a working-class Philadelphia
neighborhood. |
| 1889 |
Received a B.S. degree from Central High School in Philadelphia, a pre-eminent public secondary school. |
| 1892 |
1892 Graduated from University of Pennsylvania Medical School; worked at the University of Berlin, Germany. |
| 1900 |
Studied pharmacology at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in Heidelberg, Germany. |
| 1902 |
Married Laura Leggett of Brooklyn, New York; the couple had no children.
Established Barnes and Hille with partner Herman Hille; manufactured pharmaceuticals, including Argyrol, a silver-based compound used to fight infections.
|
| 1907 |
1907 Barnes bought out Herman Hille. |
| 1908 |
Established the A.C. Barnes Company with factories in Philadelphia, London and
Sydney; Barnes mounted the first successful marketing effort of medical supplies directly to
physicians and hospitals. |
| 1912 |
Beginning of Barnes's interest in French modern art; William Glackens, a high-school
classmate and noted American painter, returned from Paris with 20 paintings he purchased for
Dr. Barnes, including van Gogh's Postman, Picasso's Woman with a Cigarette and works by Renoir
and Cézanne.
Autumn, Barnes took first "buying trip" to Paris; met with Paris dealers Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. |
| 1915 |
Barnes published his first article, "How to Judge a Painting," in Arts and Decoration. |
| 1922 |
1922 The Barnes Foundation was chartered on December 4 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" and the maintenance of an arboretum. Dr. Barnes transferred 710 of his personal paintings to The Foundation and an endowment, totaling $6 million;
purchased Matisse's Joy of Life; made first purchase of African sculpture for the collection. |
| 1923 |
Exhibited 75 paintings, including works by Soutine, Modigliani, Kisling, Perdriat, Lagut, Lipchitz,
Picasso and Matisse's Joy of Life, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. |
| 1923 |
Constructed 24-rooom gallery, 12-room residence, service building, designed in French |
| 1924 |
Renaissance style by architect Paul Cret, architect of the Rodin Museum.
Commissioned Jacque Lipchitz to carve seven bas relief sculptures for the exterior gallery and
residence; commissioned the Enfield Pottery Works to create the gallery vestibule ceramic tile
work, with motif derived from the Côte d'Ivoire temple door in the collection.
|
| 1924 |
Began to develop, with Mrs. Barnes, the Arboretum and its gardens, once belonging to Captain Joseph Lapsley Wilson, for use with art appreciation and horticulture education; the work continues today as it did throughout Dr. and Mrs. Barnes's lives. |
| 1925 |
1925 March 19, Gallery dedication, with speech given by John Dewey.
Purchased Cézanne's Card Players and Girl.
Published first book, The Art in Painting, still used today as the basis for The Foundation's art education courses.
|
| 1926 |
1926 Initial contact with Lincoln University, one of America's first historically African-American universities, regarding The Foundation's education program.
Barnes appointed Paris dealer, Paul Guillaume, Foreign Secretary for The Foundation.
February 26, Barnes given the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur by French government.
Purchased Seurat's Models.
|
| 1929 |
1929 Sold A.C. Barnes Company. |
| 1931 |
Commissioned Matisse to paint a mural, La Danse, for three lunettes in the main gallery. |
| 1932 |
1932 Purchased Cézanne's Nudes in Landscape. |
| 1933 |
1933 La Danse mural completed and installed by Matisse with the aid of Albert Nulty, Barnes's Curator and Conservator. |
| 1936 |
July 27, named Officier de l'Ordre National de La Légion d'Honneur, by the French government. |
| 1940 |
Mrs. Barnes established The Foundation's Arboretum School.
Purchased Ker-Feal, a house in Chester County, with gardens developed by Mrs. Barnes
(Ker-Feal is Breton for dog's house, in honor of Dr. Barnes' dog, Fidèle); added two wings and 14 rooms to display his colonial American decorative arts and furniture collection.
|
| 1946 |
Established relationship with Horace Mann Bond, President, Lincoln University. |
| 1950 |
Amended bylaws enabling Lincoln University Board of Trustees 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 degree from Lincoln University.
July 24, died in an automobile accident at age 79.
|
| 1952 |
Harold Weigand, an employee of The Philadelphia Inquirer, filed suit to open
The Foundation to the public due to its tax-exempt status; suit dismissed because the newspaper had no standing. |
| 1958 |
Attorney General of Pennsylvania filed suit to open The Foundation to the public. |
| 1960 |
December 10, out-of-court agreement reached between The Foundation and Attorney General to open
the gallery to the public two days each week; cards of admission abolished. |
| 1961 |
March 18, The Foundation was opened to the general public for the first time since 1951. |
| 1966 |
April 29, Mrs. Barnes died at age 92. |
| 1961 |
March 18, The Foundation was opened to the general public for the first time since 1951. |
| 1967 |
April 2, first Sunday visiting hours. |
| 1988 |
September 20, Violette de Mazia, Director of Art Education, died at age 89. |
| 1989 |
September 26, Ambassador Franklin Williams elected as the first President of
The Foundation's Board of Trustees nominated by Lincoln University. |
| 1990 |
1990 Ambassador Williams died.
July 20, Richard H. Glanton elected President, Board of Trustees.
|
| 1991 |
1991 March 29, filed petition in Montgomery County Orphans'
Court requesting permission to de-accession Foundation paintings. The petition was subsequently withdrawn |
| 1992 |
April 1, announced plans for international tour of "Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation";
filed petition in Montgomery County Orphans' Court seeking relief from Barnes restriction on lending paintings. |
| 1993 |
1993 February 28, closed gallery for renovations.
April, publication of first-ever color catalogue of collection, Great French Paintings from The Barnes Foundation.
|
| 1995 |
November 11, Gallery and Arboretum reopened |
| 1998 |
November, after protracted litigation, Lower Merion Township Zoning Commission eased its restriction on public
visitation to 1200 people per week, three days per week, and permitted summer hours only during weekdays. |
| 1998 |
1998 November, The Board of Trustees hired the The Foundation's first professional Executive Director and
CEO, Kimberly Camp. |
| 1999 |
Dr. Bernard C. Watson elected as President of the Board of Trustees. |
| 2001 |
Lower Merion Township officials restricted The Foundation's fundraising activities by prohibiting the erection of
tents on the grounds.
The Foundation received permission from Montgomery County Orphans' Court to lend works in storage.
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300 North Latch's Lane
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