The Barnes... how it ended.

         In museums class we all saw the film called "The Art of the Steal." This film chronicled what happened to The Barnes Foundation Collection. Well, this is what happened when the building opened. First of all this article is from the Philadelphia Inquirer and so I had their history in mind when reading this article. This article was written in May of 2012 by Peter Dobrin who is the Culture writer for the Inquirer, so I was surprised when Dobrin wrote, "Gone forever, of course, is any claim to authenticity. Whatever the Barnes of 2012 and beyond becomes, visitors will never again have the same fully prescribed experience, the powerful feeling of being led around the museum by the hand of its founder." I would have thought that a writer from the Inquirer would have made glowing review of the transformation of the Barnes from a lowly outcast foundation to the crown jewel of the Philadelphia downtown. Dorbin goes on to say that he used to enjoy living in a city that stated true to its roots and kept the new buildings at bey, now he lives in a place that is all skyscrapers.
        Dorbin really has a sense of place, not only for himself but for this collection of art. There are pictures that show an attempt to bring the character of the Barnes into the museums, with a few hinges on the walls where they would have been in the original building. But there is clearly not the same charm or originality that there was when the school was in operation. Dorbin uses the disappearing of the old buildings to illustrate his underlying frustration about his changing city and how there will come a time when people will only know Philadelphia as it is now and not as it once was. Dorbin closes his article with "you'll hear one art lover saying to another while moving among an incomparable -if measurably less quirky- collection of Cezannes and Renoirs on the Parkway: 'The Barnes used to be in Merion? Really?" Because one day this whole thing will be under the rug, forgotten, and no one will know the difference.
http://articles.philly.com/2012-05-21/news/31789070_1_barnes-move-barnes-foundation-albert-c-barnes