Albert C. Barnes

Albert C. Barnes, 1940, photo portrait by Carl van Vechten

Albert Coombs Barnes (born January 2, 1872 in Kensington , Pennsylvania , † July 24, 1951 in Chester County , Pennsylvania) was an American doctor, pharmacist, art collector, author, philanthropist and donor of the Barnes Foundation .

Life

Albert C. Barnes was born in a working-class suburb of Philadelphia to the butcher John Barnes and the German-born Lydia Shafer. His mother was a staunch Methodist and took him to church meetings as a child, where he had early contact with the Afro-American population, whose art and culture he was interested in all his life. After graduating from high school (the future painter William Glackens was among his classmates ), Barnes first studied medicine in Philadelphia and worked as a medical assistant at various hospitals in Pennsylvania. In 1894/95 he worked as a doctor at the Charité in Berlin. Back in the USA, he studied psychology at the mental hospital in Warren, Pennsylvania . He then earned his money as an advertising and sales manager for a pharmaceutical manufacturer and went to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg in 1900 to complete his pharmacy studies with a doctoral thesis. During this time Barnes also attended philosophy courses. Barnes married Laura Leggett from Brooklyn in 1901.

During his studies in Germany, Barnes met Hermann Hille, with whom he founded the Barnes and Hille company in 1902 . One of the company's developments was the disinfectant argyrol . This drug (a silver compound) has been used successfully for eye infections. In 1907 Barnes and Hille dissolved their partnership and Barnes took over the entire company, which was renamed the AC Barnes Company the following year . Barnes developed a very successful marketing system and sold directly to doctors and hospitals without intermediaries. In addition to the Philadelphia factory, others were built in London and Australia.

Barnes began social engagement early on. He led discussions on philosophical subjects for the white and black workforce in his factory, which he chaired himself. In addition to William James , Bertrand Russell, and John Dewey , writings by Santayana were also discussed. The latter made the proposal to Barnes to display works of art (for example by Glackens and Prendergast) in the factory, which Barnes had already started collecting. Lectures were also held in the company on art subjects. In addition, a company library was set up and lectures were opened to interested parties from outside the company. In addition to his work in the company, Albert C. Barnes dealt intensively with philosophy and initially took up private studies before enrolling at Columbia University in 1917. The great interest in adult education led to the establishment of the Barnes Foundation in 1922 .

Albert C. Barnes was able to set up an art collection at an early age through his fortune earned in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1912 he sent his friend, the painter William Glackens, to Europe to buy modern art . Among these first acquisitions are van Gogh's postman Roulin and Picasso's wife with a cigarette . In the same year Barnes himself traveled to Paris and bought numerous works of art, including his first Gauguin . In the same year he met Leo Stein , Gertrude Stein's brother . A lifelong friendship developed with both of them. At the end of the year he traveled to Paris again and attracted considerable attention at auctions, as he was prepared to pay top prices for painters who had previously received little attention.

In 1923 Barnes exhibited 75 works of his art collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The artists included, for example, Amedeo Modigliani , Pablo Picasso , Giorgio de Chirico and Henri Matisse . This exhibition was ridiculed by the public and torn up by art critics. This meant that his pictures should never be exhibited in public again. He donated his painting collection to the Barnes Foundation and built an exhibition wing for the painting collection next to the school building in Merion, Pennsylvania . He himself watched over who was allowed to see this collection. He gave his permission to workers, regardless of whether they were black or white. All others had to apply for permission in writing. In particular, art critics and museum directors were often not given access. But he also refused entry to the writer TS Eliot and the architect Le Corbusier . However , he was happy to personally guide others such as Albert Einstein , Thomas Mann , Greta Garbo , Edward G. Robinson and Salvador Dalí through the collection.

Over the years the art collection took on enormous proportions: 181 Renoirs , 69 Cézannes , 59 Matisse , 46 Picassos , 21 Soutines and 18 Rousseaus alone ; also works by Modigliani, Degas , van Gogh , Seurat and Monet . There are also works of old masters and especially African art (sculptures), as well as works by Afro-American artists. Albert C. Barnes was friends with Henri Matisse and commissioned him to paint his gallery building.

In 1929 Barnes sold his company and devoted himself to writing art historical writings in the following years. In his will, Barnes placed the direction of the Barnes Foundation at Lincoln University , a college for African-Americans.

Albert C. Barnes died at the age of 78 as a result of a traffic accident.

Barnes Collection

• 

  Pierre Auguste Renoir:
  The Artist's Family

• 

  Claude Monet:
  The Studio Boat

• 

  Paul Cezanne:
  boy with a red vest

• 

  Vincent van Gogh:
  The Postman Joseph Roulin

• 

  Paul Gauguin:
  Haere Pape

• 

  Henri de Toulouse Lautrec:
  A Montrouge - Rosa la Rouge

• 

  Édouard Manet:
  The laundry

• 

  Henri Rousseau:
  Woman in the Jungle

• 

  Amedeo Modigliani:
  Jeanne Hébuterne

Fonts

• The Art of Cezanne . 4th ed. Barnes Foundation Press, Merion Pa. 1977 (together with Violette de Mazia).
• The Art of Henri-Matisse . Scribers, New York 1933 (with Violette de Mazia).
• The Art in Painting . 2nd edition Harcourt Brace, New York 1928.
• The Art of Renoir . Minton & Balch, New York 1935 (with Violette de Mazia).
• The French Primitives and their Forms from their origins to the end of the 15th century . Barnes Foundation Press, Merion, Pa. 1931 (together with Violette de Mazia).

literature

• Lois R. Charles: Albert C. Barnes' philosophy of art . University Press, Newark, Del. 1972 (also dissertation 1972).
• Howard Greenfeld: The devil and Dr. Barnes. Portrait of an American art collector . Camino Books, Philadelphia, Pa. 2006, ISBN 0-940159-92-9 (reprint of the New York 1987 edition).
• Henry Hart: Dr. Barnes of Merion. An appreciation . Farrar Strauss, New York 1963.
• Mary Ann Meyers: Art, education, & African-American culture. Albert Barnes and the Science of Philanthropy . Transaction Publ., New Brunswick 2003, ISBN 0-7658-0214-7 .
• Brigitta Neumeister-Taroni (Ed.): La joie de vivre. The never-seen masterpieces from the Barnes Collection . Kindler, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-463-40221-1 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, 1993 in Munich).
• William Schack: Art and argyrol. The life and career of Dr. Albert C. Barnes . Yoseloff Press, London 1960.
• Niara Sudarkasa, David Lewis: The Barnes Bond connection . University Press, Lincoln, Pa. 1995, ISBN 0-96494-761-7 .
• Ambroise Vollard : Memories of an Art Dealer (“Souvenirs d'un marchand de tableaux”). Diogenes, Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-257-21749-8 (reprint of the Zurich 1957 edition).
• Curtis G. Wong, Margaret Burnette: A passion for art. Renoir , Cézanne , Matisse , and Dr. Barnes. Discover the greatest private collection of post-impressionist paintings . Corbis Publ., Bellevue, Pa. 1995 (1 CD-ROM).

Web links

Commons : Barnes Foundation  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Barnes Foundation
• Hans-Joachim Müller: The legacy of the incredible Mr. Barnes in: Welt am Sonntag , November 11, 2012