Shattered Legacy: The Barnes Foundation’s fragmented new logo, unveiled on its new website
At a press conference yesterday, the Barnes Foundation announced that it would open its new Philadelphia facility to the public on May 19. It has also launched a new website.
Advance reservations to visit the museum will be accepted beginning Mar. 1. Members can reserve beginning Feb. 1 and get free admission (after paying the membership fee—a minimum of $90). There will be an additional charge for parking in the Barnes’ lot.
What will be the admission fee for non-members? The website doesn’t say. But for groups of 15 to 75, the price will be $20 per head. Adult admission to the nearby encyclopedic Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently $16.
As for future special exhibitions, all that the Barnes’ website currently says is this:
Special exhibitions, including presentations of contemporary and
non-Western art, will add a new dimension to visiting the Barnes
Foundation, when its new building opens on the Parkway in Philadelphia.
Albert Barnes collected some of the most radical art of his time, and
the Barnes will honor that legacy [emphasis added] and reflect the breadth of his
collections in its exhibition program.
Meanwhile, a decision is still pending in Montgomery County Orphans’ Court on the desperation lawsuit to stop the Barnes from moving to Philly from its longtime home—the mansion in Merion, where its founder, Albert Barnes, had explicitly stipulated that his collection should always remain. (So much for “honoring his legacy.”)
If I learn more about general admission prices, exhibition plans or anything else of interest, I’ll update here.