The Orange Octopus: The Barns Foundation

For those reading from the Philadelphia, tri-state area, there is a beautiful little gem hiding in our backyards. The Barns Foundation, "...houses one of the finest collections of nineteenth and twentieth-century French painting in the world. An extraordinary number of masterpieces by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse provide a depth of work by these artists unavailable elsewhere. Established as an educational institution the Barnes carries out its mission teaching classes in its galleries and Arboretum.*" Dr. Barnes collected the pieces of artwork and placed them in his home/gallery and then protected the works in his will, to never leave his home/gallery. Unfortunately the collection is being moved, against Dr. Barnes' will to a building next to the Rodin museum in the Art district of Center City. His collection at their original location is able to be viewed until the end of 2010. After my visit today, I have to say this is something I wish I had known about many years ago.