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In the early 1900s, Dr. Albert C. Barnes made his money inventing a treatment for gonorrhea. He spent that money immersing himself in the exploding 20th century art scene. It wasn't long before he formed his own ideas about art; chiefly, that it was cheapened and commodified by profit-driven museums and their bourgeois patrons. So Barnes bought hundreds of impressionist, post-impressionist, and modernist paintings by folks like Matisse, Renoir, Monet, and Picasso and promptly hung them in a custom-built mansion in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He established the Barnes Foundation, a school that taught art history to blue collar-types and kept its doors closed to the public (except for a few open viewing days per week). Needless to say, Barnes made a lot of people angry, specifically the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fast forward to Barnes's death in 1951: suddenly the foundation is in flux, having been left to Lincoln University and thrown into a power struggle between Philly elitists, charities, and board members. Barnes's trust forbid the showing or moving of his art, but his collection was immediately taken on a tour of the world, opened to the public, and is now being moved to a new home along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Does this priceless collection of art belong to the world, or should a man's last will and trust be upheld at all costs?

Primary Title
  • The Art of the Steal
Date Broadcast
  • Monday 4 June 2012
Release Year
  • 2009
Start Time
  • 18 : 10
Finish Time
  • 19 : 47
Duration
  • 97:00
Channel
  • Rialto Channel
Broadcaster
  • Sky Network Television
Programme Description
  • In the early 1900s, Dr. Albert C. Barnes made his money inventing a treatment for gonorrhea. He spent that money immersing himself in the exploding 20th century art scene. It wasn't long before he formed his own ideas about art; chiefly, that it was cheapened and commodified by profit-driven museums and their bourgeois patrons. So Barnes bought hundreds of impressionist, post-impressionist, and modernist paintings by folks like Matisse, Renoir, Monet, and Picasso and promptly hung them in a custom-built mansion in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He established the Barnes Foundation, a school that taught art history to blue collar-types and kept its doors closed to the public (except for a few open viewing days per week). Needless to say, Barnes made a lot of people angry, specifically the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fast forward to Barnes's death in 1951: suddenly the foundation is in flux, having been left to Lincoln University and thrown into a power struggle between Philly elitists, charities, and board members. Barnes's trust forbid the showing or moving of his art, but his collection was immediately taken on a tour of the world, opened to the public, and is now being moved to a new home along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Does this priceless collection of art belong to the world, or should a man's last will and trust be upheld at all costs?
Classification
  • Unknown
Owning Collection
  • Television Vault
Broadcast Platform
  • Television
Languages
  • English
Captions
Live Broadcast
  • No
Rights Statement
  • Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Subjects
  • Barnes Foundation
  • Art museums--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • Art schools--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • Documentary films--United States
Genres
  • Art
  • Documentary
Contributors
  • Don Argott (Director)
  • Sheena M. Joyce (Producer)
  • West Dylan Thordson (Composer)
  • 9.14 Pictures (Production Unit)
  • Maj Productions (Production Unit)
Subjects
  • Barnes Foundation
  • Art museums--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • Art schools--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • Documentary films--United States