The Art of the Steal

Saw The Art of the Steal, a documentary about a large and extremely valuable ($25-$40 billion) art collection collected by the childless Dr Albert Barnes. He desired to have the art stay in one place and be used for teaching purposes. The collection contains important and beautiful paintings by every impressionist artist you know of and is apparently capable of moving people to tears. In his will, he stipulated that this work not be moved, sold, or loaned, that it was to stay in his foundation/school forever. This does not happen.

The film emphasizes that this is a school, even using what appears to be a chalkboard to flash up interstitial titles. This collection is meant to guide the gifted few, not to be let open for any idiot to gawk at, or for rich snobs to pose and drink martinis before. The political forces at work begin to dismantle this school however, as leadership changes hands and people die and we become more and more removed from the man Barnes himself.

I have trouble really caring about Barnes' intent for his collection. He seems like an unpleasant man. Why should these great paintings be kept in a private institution? Why not put them in a state museum? Almost everyone interviewed is on the Barnes side of things, wanting the collection to remain in place. They talk about his intent for his own property and, yes that matters, but surely cultural treasures such as these are more important than one man's desires, right? Clearly, I don't see their point of view, however the film still works well as a simple portrayal of a fight against city hall. Barnes' neighbors and a gang of passionate artists defend the collection against a well-organized group of grainy photographs of smiling billionaires.

The protagonists (the artists and neighbors) make their case in a very legalistic way: Barnes wanted his collection preserved - it is being scattered. I admit that when I die, I would like my property to be distributed exactly as my will states, however this man has no surviving family. This is a moving film, but I have a difficult time feeling a lot of sympathy for the ghost of an art-collector. Let the world see the art, even the idiots. Perhaps it will help them in some way?