The Barn'(es) on fire

BAD PUN, but the Barnes foundation's struggles to keep some of the most beautiful masterpieces funded led to it's board disregarding the will of the Mr. Barnes, and initiated the move of an estimated 25-35 BILLION$ worth of post-impressionism art to a new museum in downtown Philly. Barnes had always been at odds with the Philadelphia art world and asked that his collection NEVER be removed from its then current house in Merion, Pennsylvania. He wanted the art to be for his students (the school has also been sold off since) and NOT open to the general public as a normal, money-accepting, snobby, upscale museum. And amazingly, the opposite has been done as the board claims it was necessary in order to do something like "keep the spirit of the will."
The documentary "The Art of the Steal" is a very solid film that follows the development and eventual conclusion of this mess. It presents both sides, conducts countless interviews and talks with people from all perspectives of the argument. I have to say, It's tough to decide who is in the right. Barnes was a stubborn old man who held and even escalated his grudges against the wealthy art-world of Philly (understandably so as he was constantly ridiculed about his collection of "primitive" art). He held a collection that rivals every museum on the planet. Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso all hold places in the gallery; even Cezanne's "Card Players" is there, so I have a hard time agreeing that such masterpieces should be kept out of private view. But as I learned more about the foundation, it's message, and Barnes' reasoning, I saw that it wasn't a strictly private house which threw visitors to the curb. In contrast, it seemed only inaccessible to the wealthy, art-capitalists. Barnes saw that these people didn't know about what the art meant, just what kind of money it symbolized. In that, I see a valiant understanding of who art is really for. Even though Barnes was sitting on billions worth of art, he realized that many of the people who saw it's true value were the ones that had no power to buy it. They didn't see the 100 million a Picasso recently sold for, or the hundreds of 15$ tickets they could sell in a week, they saw the color, emotion, energy and importance the canvases held for the modern world.
Whether the foundation really believes this is best, whether it actually is best, or whether it's a direct slap in the face to the greatest post-impressionist collector in history, the film presents a conflicting story which the viewer must choose a side to see right and wrong. Take a look at "The Art of the Steal" and get to know the tragedy or success of the Barnes' Foundation transformation.

imdb page below
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1326733/