Art Held Hostage: The Battle over the Barnes Collection [Hardcover]

John Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

The battle for control of America's greatest private art collection.

This is the story of how a fabled art foundation—the greatest collection of impressionist and postimpressionist art in America—came to be, and why it is now, thanks to more than a decade of legal squabbling, on the brink of financial collapse. The Barnes Collection has been conservatively valued at more than $6 billion and includes some 69 Cézannes (more than in all the museums of Paris combined), 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos, 18 Rousseaus, 14 Modiglianis, and no fewer than 180 Renoirs. Yet the Barnes is in crisis. Its founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872), grew up in the slums of late-nineteenth-century Philadelphia only to become first a physician and later a pharmaceutical king. By 1920, this self-made man was already well on his way to becoming one of the great art collectors of his day. But this is also the story of Richard Glanton, who escaped poverty in rural Georgia to become a high-flying, politically powerful Philadelphia lawyer. It was Glanton who took the Barnes art on its celebrated worldwide tour, renovated the galleries-and presided over a decade of expensive litigation. The most famous of these court cases—this one in federal court—pitted the Barnes against its wealthy neighbors. The goal: A 52-car parking lot for the Barnes. The cost: more than $6 million in legal fees. Today, Glanton is no longer president of the Barnes, and the new board is seeking to move the collection into the city. Yet another court case will decide whether they can or not. The battle of the Barnes has only just begun. "Here, at long last, is the whole truth about the Dickensian legal tug-of-war—unimaginably tangled, unsparingly vicious, unprecedentedly cynical—that threatens the survival of one of the greatest private art collections of the twentieth century. From now on, anyone who seeks to understand the desperate plight of the Barnes Collection will have to start by reading this important book." —Terry Teachout, author of The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken "John Anderson has produced a riveting account of curators, trustees, and lawyers fighting for control of the world-famous Barnes Collection of French impressionist art from the 1950s to the present. Based on hundreds of revealing interviews, Art Held Hostage reads like a superb mystery novel: This gem of investigative reporting is a sure contender for the national best-seller lists." —Howard R. Lamar, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, Yale University

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Art Held Hostage reveals the messy inside story about the most infamous world-class art museum that you’ve probably never heard of. The saga begins with the life and times of Albert C. Barnes, a Philadelphia business magnet who, after making his fortune during the Depression, becomes one of America’s most important collectors of impressionist and post-impressionist art. The collection includes famed paintings by such luminaries as Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir. Barnes became well known for his harsh personality and instigated a problematic invitation-only policy to his museum, located in a Philadelphia suburb. Strangely, even after Barnes’ death the museum continued to become embroiled in financial, legal, and community disputes. The story gets uglier during the 1990s with a series of lawsuits for the foundation’s high-profile president, including a racial discrimination suit and eventually near-bankruptcy for the collection. Author John C. Anderson, a contributing editor of The American Lawyer magazine, spares no cynical detail in his investigation into this truly American tale of power, litigiousness, and boardroom antics. This is a book for those interested in the dark underbelly of the business side of the art world. -- J.P. Cohen

From Publishers Weekly

Dr. Albert Barnes pulled himself out of poverty at a young age, eventually becoming a pharmaceutical tycoon and snapping up art treasures during Depression fire sales. At the end of his combative life, Barnes, who changed his will to match his mercurial moods, left the collection not to his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, but to Lincoln University, a once-acclaimed African-American institution that had produced graduates such as Langston Hughes before seeing its reputation and enrollment decline. Located in the Main Line suburb of Philadelphia, the collection is currently worth more than $6 billion and contains masterworks by Picasso, Renoir and Matisse. A deputy editor of American Lawyer magazine, Anderson turns his keen eye to the struggle for power over the collection that has been waged since Barnes's death in 1951. At the center of the conflict is lawyer Richard Glanton, who as president of the Barnes during the 1990s launched a costly lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against the township that houses the collection, put paintings from the collection on tour despite Barnes's "no tour" clause to his gift and pondered the once unthinkable tactic of selling paintings from the collection to raise additional funds. Glanton's one-time ally in behind-the-scenes power plays, Lincoln University president Niara Sudarkasa, found herself helming an institution unprepared for the responsibilities of the collection and was later embroiled in her own legal troubles stemming from spending practices at the university. Through detailed storytelling and insightful interviews with key players (shown in 16 pages of b&w photos), Anderson vividly depicts the downfall of now-enemies Glanton and Sudarkasa and the devastating financial impact of their power struggles on the foundation itself. Anyone interested in the intersection of art, race and power politics will find this tale engrossing-and depressing.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393048896
• ISBN-13: 978-0393048896
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Arts & Photography > Business of Art

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Read about An Amazing Collection, May 12, 2003

By 

Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Art Held Hostage: The Battle over the Barnes Collection (Hardcover)

Anyone familiar with the Barnes Museum knows the inherent irony of the collection - some of the greatest works of art housed in what amounts to a converted residence, with no logic to the pattern of display other than a sheer "wow" factor over seeing Cezannes, Matisses and other masters shown matter-of-factly. This priceless assemblege, and the battles that have been waged over its ownership and rights of management make for one terrificly enjoyable read.
Outside of the art world, few people even knew of the Barnes's collection until the latter part of last century, when battles, both in court and in the news blew its cover. Struggling financially, and with management consisting of (overwhelmingly) less than capable minds, the foundation which owns and manages the collection approached bankruptcy and battles began over a touring show of the pieces. The very ugly underbelly of this battle made headline news for months, and spilled over into relations with neighbors of the museum, Philadelphia area politicians, art students and lovers, and the wishes of a very private man who appreciated art, but underappreciated the legacy he bequeathed a small minoirty college in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
John Anderson does a great job profiling the players in the battle (his take on Richard Glanton, a lawyer with political aspirations who was a key player in the battle) is dead on. Often times, the characters in this true story seem larger than the paintings and legacy they are battling over - Anderson gives the various egos at work here more than enough room, which makes the book both entertaining, and troubling (particularly when the reader considers that these people are battling over one of a kind masterpieces).
Its hard to imagine an art collection, a minority college, a strong willed educator and a power hungry lawyer, in a buccolic rural setting could make for such a great stroy - its a tribute to Anderson's writing skills that he captures the intensity of the parties, and their absolute believe in their position in the many legal battles that accompained the Barnes collection in such a breathtaking passion.
The collection is back in court again these days, and the emerging details (undisclosed audits, suburban vs. city politicians...) make clear that sequel material is being developed to this day - I hope Anderson is sitting in the courtroom and editing his notes nightly.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art as Pawn, June 4, 2003

By 

Mark T. Millkey (Northport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Art Held Hostage: The Battle over the Barnes Collection (Hardcover)

...One of the most telling, not to mention amusing, lines in Art Held Hostage is uttered by Richard Glanton, the Barnes Foundation's former president and the litigious centerpiece of John Anderson's story. In an indignant letter to a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, Glanton wrote: "If you intend to do what you have done in the past, endeavoring to besmirch my reputation and cast doubts and innuendoes about my leadership, you shall be held to the same standard you are held to when you write about other cultural institutions in Philadelphia." Glanton, neither an artist nor art professional, may have fancied himself a "cultural institution" - he once even said "I was the Barnes Foundation" - but he was hardly that. As even the snippet above reveals, Glanton, a lawyer, comes across as a bully, an egomaniac, a conniver, and a shameless self-promoter - someone charming to his friends and dangerous to his enemies. It is not even clear he was especially interested in art. But in John Anderson's detailed and engrossing account, Glanton, who also described himself as "the best politician you'll ever meet," was interested in power, and the Barnes as a means to that end. As Glanton himself stated when asked what the politicking at the Barnes was really about: "About who controls four-and-a-half billion dollars worth of art."

That, indeed, is the story of the Barnes even today, in the wake of Richard Glanton's departure: who will control the art, and where will it reside. While all this makes for terrific reading, it is also sad that some of the world's greatest art should become a pawn in what is, at bottom, a petty power struggle.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Race, politics and art do not make a good mix, March 16, 2010

By 

John E. Drury "jedrury" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Art Held Hostage: The Battle over the Barnes Collection (Hardcover)

Behind most great art collections are fools, poseurs and heroes. The emergence of Van Gogh, as the genius he was, depended on his courageous sister-in-law who took his paintings back home to Holland, protected them and marketed his genius. Gifts to a the National Gallery of Art and the Yale Center for British Art arose through the generosity of Andrew and Paul Mellon as detailed in David Cannadine's biography "Mellon." Calvin Tomkins, and others, have written well about the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its benefactors. Then, there are the fools and poseurs in John Anderson's excoriating expose "Art Held Hostage" which details the breach of trust to the Barnes Collection by the leaders of Lincoln University outside of Philadelphia. Add in the stench of Pennsylvania politics, the toxic brew of race and out comes a tragicomedy, a farce, until the adults mercifully remove the fabled collection from the kids' sandbox on Latches Lane in Lower Merion Township to Philadelphia where maturity reigns. Anderson does an admirable and thorough job in this short critique by holding the story line together amidst a welter of names, characters, quotes and counter-quotes and bizarre events occurring over a decade of tomfoolery committed by the stewards of Lincoln University. Paging through the exquisite catalogue accompanying the 1993 multi city international tour of the French Impressionists, it is so obvious that Lincoln University, bequeathed one of the great art treasures by the eccentric Albert Barnes, utterly failed in its responsibility to art, to its place as an educational institution of higher learning and to posterity. Anderson's book should be the starting point for the soon to be released movie called "The Art of the Steal," whose title in and of itself hints on which side of the debate it comes down upon.