Dr. Barnes of Merion: An Appreciation

Although Dr. Albert C. Barnes has been a major influence in art circles in Europe and the US for the last forty years, and the paintings in the gallery of the Barnes Foundation at Merion, Pennsylvania, comprise one of the world's greatest collections, there has not hitherto been a biography which explains Barnes and his work from Barnes' own point of view. There are a variety of reasons fro this. He did not hesitate to denounce empty-headed babblers about art, no matter how deeply entrenched or highly placed they might be. His fortune -the result of his discovery of Argyrol- was so large he could command the world's art dealers and could afford to expose any who tried to deceive him. Such integrity and forth-rightness made many enemies, and it is partly from their malice and partly from general misinformation that most of the public's misconceptions about Dr. Barnes derive. The truth is Dr. Barnes was one of the creative thinkers of our day. He evolved a personal philosophy and a system of aesthetics which not only enabled him to judge a work of art objectively, but gave him good reason for believing that it is possible to transform the least of men into sentient and intelligent beings capable of enjoying, and profiting from, the art spirt as well as works of art.