The Billion Dollar Art Heist

0:00:38 > 0:00:40Well, hello everybody.

0:00:40 > 0:00:43This is a fabulous day for Philadelphia,

0:00:43 > 0:00:46and we have some wonderful news for you,

0:00:46 > 0:00:49and I am so proud to present to you

0:00:49 > 0:00:52the Mayor of Philadelphia, the mayor of arts and culture -

0:00:52 > 0:00:54John Street.

0:00:57 > 0:01:00Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone.

0:01:00 > 0:01:03Let me see, what kind of day am I having?

0:01:03 > 0:01:06Actually, it is a very, very special moment for all of us

0:01:06 > 0:01:10here in the city of Philadelphia. This has been a journey,

0:01:10 > 0:01:16and we're not completely finished yet, but let me tell you something,

0:01:16 > 0:01:20it's one of those things that will make our city special

0:01:20 > 0:01:22for a long, long time.

0:01:22 > 0:01:25You will not be able to go to Houston and see the Barnes Collection,

0:01:25 > 0:01:29you won't be able to go to Boston, you won't be able to go anywhere else.

0:01:29 > 0:01:32If you want to see it, you come to the city of Philadelphia.

0:01:32 > 0:01:37And so it is with a great sense of pride that we come here today

0:01:37 > 0:01:43so that the Barnes Collection can be moved from lower Merion...

0:01:44 > 0:01:47..From Merion.

0:01:47 > 0:01:50Actually, I pause to tell you that I was on a bike ride

0:01:50 > 0:01:52not too long ago and rode right past the place.

0:01:52 > 0:01:54And I said, "See you soon."

0:01:54 > 0:01:59- LAUGHTER - In the city of Philadelphia, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

0:01:59 > 0:02:03You know, this is a story that should have been told as it went along.

0:02:04 > 0:02:09It is the greatest act of cultural vandalism since World War II.

0:02:09 > 0:02:12It's been a circus, and we couldn't take the paintings up

0:02:12 > 0:02:16to heaven with him, or hell, or wherever the heck he wound up.

0:02:16 > 0:02:19If you're going to leave your painting somewhere,

0:02:19 > 0:02:22don't let there be a politician within 500 yards.

0:02:22 > 0:02:26America's treasure to be untainted by these attacks.

0:02:26 > 0:02:30Culture has become big business, culture is an industry.

0:02:30 > 0:02:36There's a culture industry that requires new product.

0:02:38 > 0:02:41No-one knows this story,

0:02:41 > 0:02:44this is THE scandal of the art world in modern America.

0:02:54 > 0:02:59The Barnes is one of the last great personal collections in the United States.

0:02:59 > 0:03:03The fight now is over how closely the foundation Barnes established should follow his wishes.

0:03:03 > 0:03:06Here were modern paintings so important

0:03:06 > 0:03:09they were the envy of virtually every art museum in the world.

0:03:13 > 0:03:16This is the treasure-trove of the modern art of America,

0:03:16 > 0:03:18and of the world.

0:03:18 > 0:03:20This is the best of the best of the best.

0:03:20 > 0:03:24When you go through the Barnes Collection, it is jaw-dropping.

0:03:24 > 0:03:28Your mouth falls open, you can't believe you're seeing this.

0:03:28 > 0:03:31And then you go into another room and there's more, and more.

0:03:31 > 0:03:32It's just incredible...

0:03:32 > 0:03:37They've got more Cezannes then the entire city of Paris.

0:03:37 > 0:03:40There's 181 Renoirs. Wall to wall.

0:03:40 > 0:03:4259 paintings by Matisse.

0:03:42 > 0:03:45The Joy Of Life is always cited in everyone's art book,

0:03:45 > 0:03:48as it's such an important painting in the history of art.

0:03:48 > 0:03:52Picasso - 46. Seven by Van Gogh, six by Seurat.

0:03:52 > 0:03:55The Seurat Models. Now, of course, that really is

0:03:55 > 0:03:58sort of a spectacular thing, that there is no equal for.

0:03:58 > 0:04:02Simply the concentration of the work of these particular masters

0:04:02 > 0:04:04is unrivalled.

0:04:04 > 0:04:05The Louvre doesn't have it.

0:04:05 > 0:04:08The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum,

0:04:08 > 0:04:09they don't have it.

0:04:09 > 0:04:13If you've been to any other museum, you're used to walking in

0:04:13 > 0:04:16and seeing these white walls, and these paintings hung up.

0:04:16 > 0:04:18It's like a shopping experience.

0:04:18 > 0:04:21Barnes wasn't interested in a mass experience,

0:04:21 > 0:04:23he was interested in a quality experience.

0:04:23 > 0:04:27The rooms are intimate, they're not made to accommodate

0:04:27 > 0:04:31industrial-strength Smithsonian-sized crowds.

0:04:31 > 0:04:36The Barnes Collection is arranged not by period, not by artist,

0:04:36 > 0:04:39but by aesthetic values.

0:04:39 > 0:04:42You can see that a Cezanne, and a door lock,

0:04:42 > 0:04:45and some furniture are all grouped together.

0:04:45 > 0:04:48Well, he had a reason for this.

0:04:48 > 0:04:52It's a completely different way of understanding a work of art,

0:04:52 > 0:04:55and one's experience of a work of art.

0:04:55 > 0:04:56We see this collection

0:04:56 > 0:05:00with a very interesting personality stamped on it.

0:05:00 > 0:05:02The Barnes Foundation is the single most important

0:05:02 > 0:05:06American cultural monument of the first half of the 20th century.

0:05:20 > 0:05:24Albert Barnes I've come to think of as an extraordinary character.

0:05:24 > 0:05:27He tends to be dismissed as a bizarre curmudgeon,

0:05:27 > 0:05:31but in fact I think he was something of a genius.

0:05:31 > 0:05:34Dr Barnes is a particular interest of mine.

0:05:34 > 0:05:37I'm fascinated that this working-class man

0:05:37 > 0:05:43from Philadelphia, who was boxing to help to pay his university fees,

0:05:43 > 0:05:47how this young man creates one of the most beautiful

0:05:47 > 0:05:50collections of early modern art in the world.

0:05:50 > 0:05:53He was a brilliant kid who came up out of the smoke,

0:05:53 > 0:05:56and became very successful.

0:05:59 > 0:06:02Dr Barnes made his way into the University of Pennsylvania,

0:06:02 > 0:06:04and then its medical school.

0:06:04 > 0:06:07He realised that there was a market for a substitute

0:06:07 > 0:06:10for silver nitrate, which at that time,

0:06:10 > 0:06:12a drop or two was put into the eyes of almost

0:06:12 > 0:06:16every baby born in America to protect them from venereal disease.

0:06:22 > 0:06:26The product which Barnes had come up with was something called Argyrol.

0:06:26 > 0:06:31Barnes marketed something that solved a huge problem,

0:06:31 > 0:06:36and the wealth that would come from, imagine that today you invented a cure for AIDS.

0:06:36 > 0:06:40Glackens, a friend from Central High, who was an artist,

0:06:40 > 0:06:41introduced Barnes to art.

0:06:41 > 0:06:44Barnes, being this curious type, immersed himself in it,

0:06:44 > 0:06:48in the same way that he did in any other objective scientific problem.

0:06:48 > 0:06:50He wanted to learn about it, understand it.

0:06:50 > 0:06:53But here he was in Philadelphia and Philadelphia didn't have a clue.

0:06:53 > 0:06:58The money people, who were very conservative,

0:06:58 > 0:07:01did not have a sense of progress.

0:07:01 > 0:07:03Barnes did.

0:07:06 > 0:07:08He started going to Paris,

0:07:08 > 0:07:11trying to understand what was happening with modern art.

0:07:11 > 0:07:15Barnes's taste is pretty well formed in about two or three years,

0:07:15 > 0:07:19and he has a feeling that Renoir and Cezanne

0:07:19 > 0:07:21are the new pillars of the modern movement.

0:07:21 > 0:07:24He also then sees that Matisse and Picasso

0:07:24 > 0:07:27are the continuators of this great tradition.

0:07:27 > 0:07:31Barnes was way head of his time, ahead of his time artistically,

0:07:31 > 0:07:34intellectually, culturally, politically.

0:07:34 > 0:07:36He collected some of the greatest art

0:07:36 > 0:07:40in the history of the world, at a time when the American art establishment

0:07:40 > 0:07:45regarded this art as inaccessible to audiences, and of little value.

0:07:45 > 0:07:49Just think, the Museum of Modern Art was in existence,

0:07:49 > 0:07:52the Philadelphia Museum of Art was in existence,

0:07:52 > 0:07:53these were his competitors.

0:07:53 > 0:07:56The Met has been around for 30 years.

0:07:56 > 0:07:59It's this extraordinary moment where one man

0:07:59 > 0:08:02was able to buy some of the very greatest works,

0:08:02 > 0:08:04before museums were competing,

0:08:04 > 0:08:09before MoMA and Philadelphia and Boston were actually saying, "We have to buy these artists as well."

0:08:09 > 0:08:12There's always been this tension in the art world

0:08:12 > 0:08:14about the Barnes Collection.

0:08:14 > 0:08:20There is this truly phenomenal collection that the museum world

0:08:20 > 0:08:22can't get their hands on.

0:08:35 > 0:08:37We're at Sotheby's, at a preview

0:08:37 > 0:08:40for their big impressionist and modern sale.

0:08:46 > 0:08:48I mean, there's a Van Gogh there,

0:08:48 > 0:08:52which is a nice picture by a great artist.

0:08:54 > 0:08:56This is not a great Van Gogh.

0:08:56 > 0:08:58They're estimating 35 million.

0:08:58 > 0:09:01I suspect in this market, with this liquidity,

0:09:01 > 0:09:04it will go much higher than that.

0:09:04 > 0:09:09It's not Barnes-worthy, he would not have bought that Van Gogh, but it is a Van Gogh.

0:09:13 > 0:09:17Barnes wouldn't even look at that painting.

0:09:17 > 0:09:20Some pictures are unattractive and significant,

0:09:20 > 0:09:23some paintings are attractive and insignificant,

0:09:23 > 0:09:26this is both unattractive and insignificant.

0:09:26 > 0:09:30I mean, the one last night at 35 million was a much better painting.

0:09:30 > 0:09:35That was a good Matisse, I don't think it was good enough for Barnes to buy.

0:09:35 > 0:09:39And the Cezanne here is...is...

0:09:39 > 0:09:43not even a shadow of a Barnes Cezanne.

0:09:43 > 0:09:47This is estimated at seven to nine million.

0:09:48 > 0:09:51I couldn't even hang it in the same room as The Card Players,

0:09:51 > 0:09:56but The Card Players would probably be beyond any individual's capacity.

0:09:56 > 0:10:01I mean, how much money is in any one place? The Getty couldn't afford it.

0:10:03 > 0:10:06You'd need some sort of a nation to buy it.

0:10:09 > 0:10:12There certainly aren't any collections like the Barnes

0:10:12 > 0:10:15anywhere, any more, in private hands.

0:10:19 > 0:10:22- What is a collection like this worth?- Ohh...

0:10:32 > 0:10:36Look, there are some things in the collection that...

0:10:36 > 0:10:38one can't even begin to calculate.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41I...I could go through the inventory,

0:10:41 > 0:10:45painting by painting,

0:10:45 > 0:10:50and a lot of them I could come up with some kind of a number,

0:10:50 > 0:10:53but some things in there, nobody could figure out.

0:10:53 > 0:10:56The Matisse La Danse, nobody could figure out what that's worth.

0:10:56 > 0:11:01We don't know. There's been nothing like it, there never will be.

0:11:05 > 0:11:07It's worth billions. I have no idea what it's worth.

0:11:07 > 0:11:11The Cezanne Card Players, I mean, what is it worth?

0:11:11 > 0:11:14500 million? Or the other one 500 million?

0:11:15 > 0:11:18I mean, we're talking about billions and billions.

0:11:27 > 0:11:30The initial exhibition of the Barnes art took place

0:11:30 > 0:11:31in 1923 in Philadelphia,

0:11:31 > 0:11:34when Barnes exhibited the collection

0:11:34 > 0:11:36at the Academy of Fine Arts.

0:11:37 > 0:11:42Barnes had great faith in his native abilities, and his eye,

0:11:42 > 0:11:47he knew that he was in the major leagues of collecting

0:11:47 > 0:11:50the greatest postimpressionist art.

0:11:53 > 0:11:57He was passionate about pictures.

0:11:57 > 0:12:00And there was a passion in sharing it too.

0:12:07 > 0:12:12The art critics, the Philadelphia Inquirer and other people, just trashed the collection.

0:12:12 > 0:12:15They said, "This is not art, this is scribbling."

0:12:15 > 0:12:20It was greeted with caustic outcries from the traditional,

0:12:20 > 0:12:22stuffy Philadelphia art critics.

0:12:24 > 0:12:27Barnes was dismayed. I mean, he was just dismayed.

0:12:28 > 0:12:32To have these provincial yahoos, who thought of themselves

0:12:32 > 0:12:35as sophisticated art critics, just denounce him

0:12:35 > 0:12:38must've had a profound influence in his dealings with them

0:12:38 > 0:12:41for the rest of his life.

0:12:42 > 0:12:44He determined that never, never

0:12:44 > 0:12:47would they get their hands on this art.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04A principal reason that he established his foundation

0:13:04 > 0:13:06where he did, was to get it away from

0:13:06 > 0:13:08the downtown interests in Philadelphia

0:13:08 > 0:13:13that ruled the city, from the newspaper to the art museum.

0:13:15 > 0:13:20He talks about, in one of his books, rich people using artwork as upholstery for their homes.

0:13:20 > 0:13:22He didn't want that to happen with this.

0:13:22 > 0:13:26The other robber barons were busy making monuments to themselves.

0:13:26 > 0:13:28Barnes wanted to make something that would educate.

0:13:28 > 0:13:32So he used his collection to form a school.

0:13:32 > 0:13:36He really wanted to be taken seriously as an educator.

0:13:37 > 0:13:41And that this project be seen seriously

0:13:41 > 0:13:45as a real new step in modern education.

0:13:45 > 0:13:47Dewey recognised that.

0:13:47 > 0:13:50Here was a very serious philosopher,

0:13:50 > 0:13:54one of America's great contributors to philosophy and education,

0:13:54 > 0:13:56really embracing what Barnes was doing.

0:13:56 > 0:13:58If you've spent time at the place,

0:13:58 > 0:14:01and gotten a sense of what it's about,

0:14:01 > 0:14:04you know that it's a very, very important place.

0:14:04 > 0:14:08And it's not important because it has a great, great paintings,

0:14:08 > 0:14:11the entire thing is the realisation of a set of ideas.

0:14:11 > 0:14:15Dr Barnes created this perfectly appropriate building,

0:14:15 > 0:14:19in the midst of a beautiful garden and grounds.

0:14:20 > 0:14:23Barnes there assembled works of art from all over the world,

0:14:23 > 0:14:26and from all different times, and put them on an equal plane.

0:14:26 > 0:14:28He arranged in such a way

0:14:28 > 0:14:32so that the art speaks to each other in a certain way.

0:14:32 > 0:14:35It says something about humans everywhere,

0:14:35 > 0:14:37it says we're the same.

0:14:37 > 0:14:40It says that African-Americans are no different

0:14:40 > 0:14:44than Latin Americans, than Asians, we experience life in the same way.

0:14:44 > 0:14:46We show it in different ways,

0:14:46 > 0:14:50but the basic fundamental experience of life is the same.

0:14:50 > 0:14:55This is one of the many things that they say at the Barnes Foundation that makes so much sense.

0:14:55 > 0:14:58Art isn't something separate from life, it is life.

0:15:04 > 0:15:07Years later, the artwork had come to be recognised as important.

0:15:07 > 0:15:11Everyone was so offended that they couldn't go

0:15:11 > 0:15:13because it was closed on Monday,

0:15:13 > 0:15:16and, "How dare you, I've shown up with my chauffeur."

0:15:16 > 0:15:19Well, fuck it, Barnes didn't really care about your chauffeur,

0:15:19 > 0:15:23he had a school to run and he saw that very seriously.

0:15:28 > 0:15:32The hatred of Barnes in Philadelphia was fierce.

0:15:32 > 0:15:35People didn't like him, because he insulted people.

0:15:38 > 0:15:43He didn't have much regard for Philadelphia's society.

0:15:48 > 0:15:52Dr Barnes was extremely inflammatory towards his contemporaries.

0:15:56 > 0:16:01He liked to fight. But I don't think he would pick on anyone small.

0:16:01 > 0:16:02It was always...

0:16:02 > 0:16:03Someone would write, would say,

0:16:03 > 0:16:06"I am the art critic of the New York Times, can I come and see the art?"

0:16:06 > 0:16:08And Albert Barnes would write, "No,"

0:16:08 > 0:16:11and he'd have his dog sign the letter.

0:16:11 > 0:16:16But if you said, "I'm a plumber in New York City and I want to come see this art," he'd say, "OK, come in."

0:16:18 > 0:16:22Barnes never forgot, no matter how rich he was,

0:16:22 > 0:16:28that he'd grown up a poor boy in turn-of-the-century Philadelphia,

0:16:28 > 0:16:33and this set him at odds not only with the arts and cultural community,

0:16:33 > 0:16:35but with the political community.

0:16:35 > 0:16:38He was a New Deal, liberal Democrat.

0:16:38 > 0:16:41This particularly put him at odds with

0:16:41 > 0:16:45the family that owned the Philadelphia Inquirer,

0:16:45 > 0:16:50which was clubbable, and muffled, and WASPy.

0:16:53 > 0:16:59The Inquirer was the organ of Moses Annenberg

0:16:59 > 0:17:02and his son, Walter Annenberg.

0:17:02 > 0:17:05Here is a bona fide plutocrat.

0:17:05 > 0:17:10A right-wing, Nixonian, as he later would be, Ambassador to the Court of St James.

0:17:10 > 0:17:15It was like going back to wearing knee britches, and ridiculous costumes.

0:17:15 > 0:17:18How more ludicrously right-wing could you possibly be?

0:17:18 > 0:17:21This man, who like to phone Richard Nixon at night,

0:17:21 > 0:17:23and share jokes together.

0:17:23 > 0:17:26Barnes and he were always at odds, always fighting.

0:17:26 > 0:17:29The Philadelphia Inquirer was always attacking Albert Barnes

0:17:29 > 0:17:31for not opening it to the public,

0:17:31 > 0:17:35not doing what they thought it should. He did the things he thought HE should.

0:17:35 > 0:17:37It was his art, why couldn't he do what he wanted?

0:17:37 > 0:17:41One of the problems with Walter Annenberg is his father was a gangster.

0:17:41 > 0:17:45He went to jail for tax evasion, which all gangsters go to jail for,

0:17:45 > 0:17:49unless you can really catch them with the knife in their hand.

0:17:49 > 0:17:53In the end the Feds agreed to give his young, callow son, Walter,

0:17:53 > 0:17:58a pass, if the old man copped out and took a longer term.

0:17:58 > 0:18:00So his father was sent off to federal prison,

0:18:00 > 0:18:03and was only released as he was dying with a brain tumour.

0:18:03 > 0:18:07This is something that Walter Annenberg

0:18:07 > 0:18:09never forgave the Democrats for.

0:18:09 > 0:18:13It was often said that Albert Barnes realised this lifetime of animosity

0:18:13 > 0:18:18from Walter Annenberg because he said nasty cracks

0:18:18 > 0:18:22about Mo Annenberg, and his income-tax problems,

0:18:22 > 0:18:26and the race-track business, and the Mob.

0:18:26 > 0:18:29There is no doubt that Walter Annenberg,

0:18:29 > 0:18:30who for many, many years

0:18:30 > 0:18:34would dominate the world of Philadelphia journalism,

0:18:34 > 0:18:38hated Albert Barnes with a passion.

0:18:47 > 0:18:51Barnes was a very, very, very shrewd person.

0:18:51 > 0:18:54And one of the things that Albert Barnes learned was

0:18:54 > 0:18:57the value of a good lawyer.

0:18:57 > 0:19:00And Barnes's lawyer was a man named John Johnson.

0:19:00 > 0:19:03Johnson was a great patron of the arts, whose art today

0:19:03 > 0:19:06is one of the cornerstones of the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art.

0:19:06 > 0:19:11This was not as Johnson had wished it to be, I might say.

0:19:11 > 0:19:17John Johnson intended his art to be seen as a gallery in his home

0:19:17 > 0:19:19on Broad Street in Philadelphia.

0:19:21 > 0:19:25Poor Johnson had said, "I'm going to give you this collection to look at.

0:19:25 > 0:19:28"The part of the bargain is, keep my end up of it."

0:19:30 > 0:19:32After his death the house was demolished

0:19:32 > 0:19:35and the paintings were moved into the Philadelphia Museum of Art,

0:19:35 > 0:19:39where they have been a cornerstone ever since.

0:19:39 > 0:19:40Johnson's art was, in effect,

0:19:40 > 0:19:44legally stolen by the Philadelphia... the powers that be.

0:19:44 > 0:19:46They argued that the building was a firetrap,

0:19:46 > 0:19:48and that the paintings were a danger,

0:19:48 > 0:19:53and that they'd be much better off in this new building.

0:19:53 > 0:19:57"Let's get the paintings out of there, and to our new museum."

0:19:57 > 0:19:58So, yeah, he got screwed.

0:19:58 > 0:20:03Barnes was so appalled by this naked thievery

0:20:03 > 0:20:05that he became determined

0:20:05 > 0:20:09that the political and arts community of Philadelphia

0:20:09 > 0:20:11would not steal his art.

0:20:15 > 0:20:17Well, Barnes, as he always did,

0:20:17 > 0:20:20he turned to the best lawyers he could find to draw up his will.

0:20:20 > 0:20:23The goal had always been to keep

0:20:23 > 0:20:27the Barnes Foundation as a free-standing educational mission,

0:20:27 > 0:20:31not to fold the Barnes into the Philadelphia Museum of Art,

0:20:31 > 0:20:35and certainly not to turn the Barnes itself into an art museum.

0:20:35 > 0:20:37And it was to be housed

0:20:37 > 0:20:41in the building that Dr Barnes had put up.

0:20:41 > 0:20:44So he wrote this very sort of rigorous document.

0:20:44 > 0:20:49He said, "It shall always be preserved as an educational institution.

0:20:49 > 0:20:53"It can be open two or three days a week to the public.

0:20:53 > 0:20:56"But four or five days a week it shall be solely

0:20:56 > 0:20:59"and exclusively open to students and educators of art.

0:21:01 > 0:21:03"The collection shall never be loaned,

0:21:03 > 0:21:05"the collection shall never be sold.

0:21:07 > 0:21:10"The democratic nature of this institution

0:21:10 > 0:21:12"shall be preserved for all time."

0:21:14 > 0:21:16He tried to create a collection that was proof

0:21:16 > 0:21:18against commercial exploitation.

0:21:18 > 0:21:23If it remains in the same place, if it simply hangs on a wall,

0:21:23 > 0:21:26if it can never be lent, if it can never be sold,

0:21:26 > 0:21:29the commercial exploitation of it has a value of zero.

0:21:29 > 0:21:34He sought to preserve this as a school, maybe naively, in perpetuity.

0:21:34 > 0:21:38But anyone who ever writes a will thinks it's going to go on for ever.

0:21:48 > 0:21:54And so it was... Barnes was in his roadster,

0:21:54 > 0:22:00travelling between his country place and his home in Merion,

0:22:00 > 0:22:02when he was instantly killed.

0:22:10 > 0:22:13It was a shock.

0:22:19 > 0:22:22And I thought, "I only hope

0:22:22 > 0:22:27"we can keep the spirit of Dr Barnes's ideas alive."

0:22:29 > 0:22:33The question then arises, as it invariably does,

0:22:33 > 0:22:37"What did Albert Barnes intend

0:22:37 > 0:22:41"for the control of the great Barnes art collection?"

0:22:53 > 0:22:59So he died in 1951. And here we have Violette De Mazia,

0:22:59 > 0:23:04one of the great characters ever, really, in the art world,

0:23:04 > 0:23:08who originally came to the Foundation to give French classes.

0:23:10 > 0:23:15And she becomes his right-hand person, his great supporter,

0:23:15 > 0:23:18his collaborator, his disciple.

0:23:18 > 0:23:22And she's in charge, basically, for 30 years.

0:23:22 > 0:23:26After Dr Barnes died, she became President,

0:23:26 > 0:23:29and she ran it the way it had been run before.

0:23:29 > 0:23:32She was just passionate for teaching.

0:23:32 > 0:23:35She poured her life into this.

0:23:35 > 0:23:38Well, hell, it wasn't a job. To Miss De Mazia and Dr Barnes,

0:23:38 > 0:23:40and those of us that taught there, it was our life.

0:23:40 > 0:23:45We were painters, we cared about it. It wasn't just a job.

0:23:46 > 0:23:49Through the Barnes teaching, and Miss De Mazia teaching,

0:23:49 > 0:23:55so many hundreds of people have said, "It has changed my life."

0:23:55 > 0:23:59All I can say is the people that took the course loved it.

0:23:59 > 0:24:04And that to me was a satisfactory reason to perpetuate

0:24:04 > 0:24:08the Barnes as it was, which was a school, not a museum.

0:24:08 > 0:24:11That's very clear in the Trust indenture.

0:24:11 > 0:24:14And that the paintings were hung for didactic purposes,

0:24:14 > 0:24:17and not merely because it would be the convenience

0:24:17 > 0:24:19of people walking into a museum.

0:24:21 > 0:24:25Well, almost immediately after Barnes's death,

0:24:25 > 0:24:28the Foundation found itself subject to a frontal assault

0:24:28 > 0:24:32by none other than the Philadelphia Inquirer publisher,

0:24:32 > 0:24:34multi-millionaire Walter Annenberg.

0:24:34 > 0:24:36Annenberg starts this campaign,

0:24:36 > 0:24:39"Oh, the Barnes Foundation's not in the public,

0:24:39 > 0:24:42"they're violating their tax status as a charity."

0:24:42 > 0:24:44Annenberg had all the money in the world,

0:24:44 > 0:24:47and he was determined to crush the Barnes.

0:24:47 > 0:24:49He didn't dare try to crush the Barnes

0:24:49 > 0:24:54when the old man was still alive and was a tough nut to begin with.

0:25:01 > 0:25:04When they opened the Foundation - I never knew it was in the works.

0:25:04 > 0:25:07The day they opened it, she called me up and said,

0:25:07 > 0:25:09"They're letting the public in."

0:25:09 > 0:25:10I think she was in tears.

0:25:12 > 0:25:16Well, these people crowded in. I mean, one guy was out in an hour.

0:25:16 > 0:25:20Said he saw enough fat ladies for a day.

0:25:20 > 0:25:24And that was... That's the art lover.

0:25:25 > 0:25:28Annenberg is seen as the guy who got the Attorney-General

0:25:28 > 0:25:31and the State Supreme Court to make the Barnes Foundation

0:25:31 > 0:25:34be open to the public at times that it wasn't supposed to be.

0:25:34 > 0:25:38And so Annenberg is seen as taking the first little crack

0:25:38 > 0:25:39at Dr Barnes' Trust.

0:25:40 > 0:25:44Once everybody's dead, they'll do what they want.

0:25:44 > 0:25:46And nobody cares about what it was.

0:25:46 > 0:25:50That's why it was important to me to emphasise that it's a school.

0:25:51 > 0:25:53I think he always was worried

0:25:53 > 0:25:56that the artwork would become so valuable

0:25:56 > 0:26:00that it would overpower his educational ideas.

0:26:01 > 0:26:05You know, people see art, what do they think? Paintings.

0:26:05 > 0:26:10Money, tourism. It's become just the norm for art to be traded.

0:26:10 > 0:26:14For blockbuster shows, you know, to trade the art, move it around.

0:26:14 > 0:26:17You know, make money off of it. And there's all this...

0:26:17 > 0:26:21great art that the museum world doesn't have access to.

0:26:22 > 0:26:27We had requests from various museums around the country.

0:26:27 > 0:26:29"Would you please lend us two paintings?

0:26:29 > 0:26:33"We'll pay all the costs and we'll send armed guards," and whatever.

0:26:33 > 0:26:36And De Mazia said, "Right there in the document.

0:26:36 > 0:26:39"The paintings will never be removed from the walls.

0:26:39 > 0:26:40"Absolutely no, never."

0:26:40 > 0:26:46De Mazia was considered to be the last living direct apostle

0:26:46 > 0:26:48of Dr Barnes and his method.

0:26:48 > 0:26:52And everything went according to Miss De Mazia's wishes.

0:26:52 > 0:26:56The atmosphere had always been, it's for the classes. This is what it's for.

0:26:56 > 0:27:02Everything about it was personal. De Mazia was a real personality.

0:27:02 > 0:27:06It was a hand-made thing in a machine world.

0:27:06 > 0:27:07As long as she was alive.

0:27:18 > 0:27:21When she died, she was, as I said, 89.

0:27:21 > 0:27:27She died on a Friday, in September, at 1:40pm.

0:27:27 > 0:27:32Well, everything changed because Miss De Mazia died.

0:27:32 > 0:27:35And with her death, the question then is,

0:27:35 > 0:27:39"Whose hands would inherit the Barnes?"

0:27:39 > 0:27:42Barnes was married, but they had no children.

0:27:44 > 0:27:46So no doubt the Academy assumed,

0:27:46 > 0:27:51no doubt the University of Pennsylvania assumed

0:27:51 > 0:27:54that they would inherit, eventually, control of the foundation.

0:27:54 > 0:27:58However, Barnes kept changing his will. Of this there's no question.

0:27:58 > 0:28:00But he just didn't tell anyone this.

0:28:00 > 0:28:04Albert Barnes created the foundation with five trustees,

0:28:04 > 0:28:07with the power to control the foundation.

0:28:07 > 0:28:12After the last of the trustees that he had appointed died,

0:28:12 > 0:28:17ultimately, Violette De Mazia, the rub then became, who gets to appoint them?

0:28:20 > 0:28:25As everyone knows, Barnes was a misanthrope.

0:28:25 > 0:28:29He had his delicate ego badly bruised by the Philadelphia establishment

0:28:29 > 0:28:33and he had a long and difficult memory.

0:28:33 > 0:28:37Ultimately, his will left the control

0:28:37 > 0:28:41of the great Barnes art to Lincoln University.

0:28:43 > 0:28:44When he got Lincoln there,

0:28:44 > 0:28:50it was just the farthest possible imaginable thing in the social scene as it then existed.

0:28:50 > 0:28:55Lincoln was, if you were a black man in America,

0:28:55 > 0:29:00one of the places to go to get a quality education at a time when there was segregation, and whatnot.

0:29:00 > 0:29:04My father was President of Lincoln University and he

0:29:04 > 0:29:07befriended Albert Barnes and from that friendship began

0:29:07 > 0:29:12a relationship between Lincoln University and the Barnes Collection.

0:29:12 > 0:29:16Barnes was one of those rare Americans who was open hearted about black people.

0:29:16 > 0:29:19In his factory, he had an integrated working force

0:29:19 > 0:29:22when almost no industrial operation in the whole country had that.

0:29:22 > 0:29:25He thought, maybe in the back of his mind,

0:29:25 > 0:29:29"How could I stick my finger in the eyes of the Philadelphia art establishment?

0:29:29 > 0:29:31"I'll show 'em, I'll give it to this little black college."

0:29:31 > 0:29:35Whether, you know, his long range objectives were number one,

0:29:35 > 0:29:39just getting revenge on the Philadelphia establishment,

0:29:39 > 0:29:42I think he said, "Boy, I can trust these people,

0:29:42 > 0:29:46"they're not part of that awful establishment that I hate so much."

0:29:50 > 0:29:52Fast-forward to 1990.

0:29:52 > 0:29:55Lincoln is this state school that doesn't get enough state funding,

0:29:55 > 0:29:59that can't raise enough money and if you're a trustee of Lincoln,

0:29:59 > 0:30:03Why wouldn't you use this new asset you have to raise some money for your school?

0:30:03 > 0:30:07Franklin Williams, this diplomat lawyer,

0:30:07 > 0:30:10was named the President of the Barnes Foundation

0:30:10 > 0:30:12and he really understood,

0:30:12 > 0:30:17as probably most of the Lincoln trustees didn't,

0:30:17 > 0:30:23that he and Lincoln were becoming custodians of the world's greatest post-Impressionist art collection.

0:30:27 > 0:30:31Franklin Williams established an art advisory committee

0:30:31 > 0:30:34of notable people from around the country in the art world.

0:30:34 > 0:30:37Franklin Williams wanted to pick the right people,

0:30:37 > 0:30:41so I went back and I drew up a list with all these in-people,

0:30:41 > 0:30:43but very well-known ones.

0:30:43 > 0:30:47Lincoln University felt it really should look to the outside

0:30:47 > 0:30:49to help it figure out what to do with this place,

0:30:49 > 0:30:53which is a perfectly reasonable thing for them to have done.

0:30:53 > 0:31:00It would be a resource to use as they chose, understanding the terms and conditions of Barnes Trust.

0:31:00 > 0:31:03And it would have just made both of them flourish.

0:31:03 > 0:31:07It would be... it's indescribable, what might have happened.

0:31:11 > 0:31:14Also on the Lincoln Board at this time

0:31:14 > 0:31:18was this incredibly ambitious lawyer

0:31:18 > 0:31:22named Richard H Glanton.

0:31:22 > 0:31:26He has designs on being Mayor of Philadelphia, maybe even Senator.

0:31:26 > 0:31:28His ambitions know no limit.

0:31:28 > 0:31:32Glanton has already been going round telling people that he's going to run the Barnes

0:31:32 > 0:31:37but as I say, between Glanton and the Barnes and perhaps many of his other ambitions

0:31:37 > 0:31:40is Franklin Williams.

0:31:40 > 0:31:43What no one could have anticipated was that almost immediately,

0:31:43 > 0:31:47upon becoming President of the Barnes Foundation, Franklin Williams

0:31:47 > 0:31:51discovers he has a very virulent form of cancer and within the year is dead.

0:32:02 > 0:32:06When I came there, the perception was that this dummy

0:32:06 > 0:32:08is fresh meat for us to devour.

0:32:08 > 0:32:13He's just a smart political guy but he didn't know anything about art.

0:32:13 > 0:32:17So, we'll rule while he reigns.

0:32:17 > 0:32:21And... I was not born that way.

0:32:23 > 0:32:25I got a call from Richard Glanton,

0:32:25 > 0:32:32who said, "Why don't I meet you at The Union League and let me buy you lunch and pick your brain."

0:32:32 > 0:32:36I said, "Sure, why not." He said, "I've got big plans for the Barnes.

0:32:36 > 0:32:38"We're going to make a lot of money."

0:32:38 > 0:32:42And I said, "Why do you need money? We've got the original 10 million in there,

0:32:42 > 0:32:46"it's yielding a couple of hundred thousand more than we need to run it,

0:32:46 > 0:32:48"what's the point of all of this?"

0:32:48 > 0:32:52And Glanton says, "I'm going to put this whole thing on the map.

0:32:52 > 0:32:55"I'm going to do whatever it takes to build up as much money as I can."

0:32:55 > 0:32:58"Don't worry, Dave, I've got it all figured out."

0:32:58 > 0:33:01"Oh, OK, well, if that's the way you're going to run it,

0:33:01 > 0:33:05"you're the majority of the trustees now, but thanks for lunch."

0:33:06 > 0:33:11Mrs De Mazia, God bless her soul, really did the best she could.

0:33:11 > 0:33:16For 50 years, following Barnes's death, or 40 years, the money was mismanaged.

0:33:17 > 0:33:19The building had water running in it.

0:33:19 > 0:33:24All of the windows were just rotten. The HVAC system didn't work.

0:33:26 > 0:33:30We've got conservation problems, we need climate control.

0:33:30 > 0:33:35All of which, frankly, as a museum person,

0:33:35 > 0:33:38seem perfectly reasonable.

0:33:38 > 0:33:41At the time, when we were on this little committee,

0:33:41 > 0:33:45it was very clear that you could work out a plan to try to raise money.

0:33:45 > 0:33:48Everybody would want to save the Barnes Foundation.

0:33:48 > 0:33:54So, that was what we suggested and that's precisely what Richard Glanton did not want to do.

0:33:54 > 0:33:59They were about to figure out how to do something that was clearly illegal and unethical,

0:33:59 > 0:34:01which was what they did.

0:34:04 > 0:34:07Richard loved being President of the Barnes

0:34:07 > 0:34:09and he loved all of the sidelines of that -

0:34:09 > 0:34:15hobnobbing with the rich and famous, including multi-millionaire, Walter Annenberg.

0:34:17 > 0:34:20So, I called Walter.

0:34:20 > 0:34:25I said, "I'd like to just talk to you about my ideas at Barnes." He said, "Great."

0:34:27 > 0:34:32Water Annenberg, who was a piece of work, was also an art collector.

0:34:32 > 0:34:37First-rate collection, but certainly not an adventurous collection,

0:34:37 > 0:34:39certainly not an adventurous thinker.

0:34:39 > 0:34:43In the last several months, I've had two Japanese interests

0:34:43 > 0:34:45after me to sell my whole collection.

0:34:45 > 0:34:49My only response has been,

0:34:49 > 0:34:51"You're discussing members of my family

0:34:51 > 0:34:55"and I'm hardly about to sell members of my family."

0:34:59 > 0:35:03It couldn't have been more ironic. Glanton and Walter Annenberg

0:35:03 > 0:35:08hit upon the idea of selling Barnes' art.

0:35:08 > 0:35:12I said, "I want to raise the funds to restore the gallery,

0:35:12 > 0:35:15"to ensure the long-term preservation of the collection,

0:35:15 > 0:35:19"and the way that I would do this would be to deaccession a number of paintings

0:35:19 > 0:35:24"to raise sufficient cash to cover the cost of the restoration."

0:35:24 > 0:35:28And he immediately said, "That's a great idea."

0:35:28 > 0:35:31Glanton, basically, did for Annenberg what he wanted to do -

0:35:31 > 0:35:34made it totally accessible to him and was going to rip it apart for him.

0:35:34 > 0:35:35Up until then,

0:35:35 > 0:35:39Annenberg was coming in, trying to undo from the outside.

0:35:39 > 0:35:42Now what you had was trustees, the Barnes trustees -

0:35:42 > 0:35:45from the inside, the Barnes board itself was saying,

0:35:45 > 0:35:47"Oh, we're in dire financial straits.

0:35:47 > 0:35:52"We need to undo this indenture. Let us sell the collection."

0:35:54 > 0:35:56I have nothing against buying and selling art.

0:35:56 > 0:35:58If there is no legal reason not to do it, it's fine.

0:35:58 > 0:36:00Dr Barnes did not say that was OK

0:36:00 > 0:36:04and therefore it isn't discussable, as far as I'm concerned.

0:36:05 > 0:36:07We were outraged.

0:36:07 > 0:36:08Glanton didn't care.

0:36:08 > 0:36:14And then, when we objected, he fired the whole art advisory board.

0:36:15 > 0:36:18The response of the art world was fast and furious.

0:36:18 > 0:36:20There was a huge uproar.

0:36:20 > 0:36:23Anybody with any familiarity of the cultural world

0:36:23 > 0:36:27knew that it was absolutely the last thing that anyone

0:36:27 > 0:36:30with any knowledge of a cultural organisation would do.

0:36:31 > 0:36:34So even though there was sort of a big push to do that,

0:36:34 > 0:36:38it didn't happen, because the museum community got up against it.

0:36:38 > 0:36:41Having now failed to convince either the court

0:36:41 > 0:36:45or his partners on the Barnes board to allow him to sell art

0:36:45 > 0:36:48or to rent art, or deaccession art,

0:36:48 > 0:36:54he now comes up with a moment of genius.

0:36:56 > 0:37:00When Richard started publicly saying that the foundation

0:37:00 > 0:37:04had to raise money, and this is where he started this suggestion,

0:37:04 > 0:37:07the fiasco plan of announcing that he would sell some of the art,

0:37:07 > 0:37:11in order to justify that, he said, "Come on, I'll show you."

0:37:11 > 0:37:15And so I took a tour with him from basement to attic

0:37:15 > 0:37:18of the foundation and wrote a story about it.

0:37:18 > 0:37:21And so, day after day, week after week,

0:37:21 > 0:37:23usually with Richard Glanton as the humble boy scout

0:37:23 > 0:37:27taking Lucinda Fleeson, the reporter, through the boiler room

0:37:27 > 0:37:30and on top of the roof, readers of the Enquirer were treated to

0:37:30 > 0:37:32the saga of the poor old Barnes Foundation.

0:37:32 > 0:37:36And it was going to take millions of dollars to fix up the Barnes,

0:37:36 > 0:37:39otherwise these paintings... They were just going to fall off the wall.

0:37:39 > 0:37:42Work on fear here - weapons of mass destruction, leaky roof...

0:37:42 > 0:37:47It sounds like the Johnson story. The building is falling apart.

0:37:47 > 0:37:53That was the beginning of the story of "why we can undermine Dr Barnes' will."

0:37:55 > 0:37:58Thank you to Lucinda Fleeson and the Enquirer,

0:37:58 > 0:38:01he has this marvellous excuse to persuade the court

0:38:01 > 0:38:03that the building is in such disrepair

0:38:03 > 0:38:07that it's going to have to be closed down for a couple of years.

0:38:07 > 0:38:13"Let me take the Barnes art on tour and charge other museums for the privilege."

0:38:13 > 0:38:16As a lawyer, there's a provision in the trust that provided

0:38:16 > 0:38:20that in fact you could change... It's called "cy-pres."

0:38:20 > 0:38:24You can change a provision if it's necessary to carry out the donor's intent

0:38:24 > 0:38:26to the least extent possible.

0:38:26 > 0:38:29If you can't do exactly the terms of the will,

0:38:29 > 0:38:32there's the French term "cy-pres," "cy-pres c'est possible" -

0:38:32 > 0:38:34as near as possible, do what the donor wanted.

0:38:34 > 0:38:38And how in the world can they fucking think that this is as near as possible...?

0:38:38 > 0:38:41This is exactly what he didn't want! Every, every...

0:38:41 > 0:38:44ounce of it is what he didn't want.

0:38:44 > 0:38:47I was told by everybody that it couldn't, it wouldn't, be done.

0:38:47 > 0:38:51"Nobody will do it." I said, "Well, we got to do this."

0:38:51 > 0:38:54# Do what you have to and not what you're told. #

0:39:10 > 0:39:13Given the quality of the collection,

0:39:13 > 0:39:16it created headlines wherever it went.

0:39:16 > 0:39:20It created crowds wherever it went. It created money wherever it went.

0:39:20 > 0:39:24And all of that was like shovelling coal into the furnace

0:39:24 > 0:39:27until the fire was raging.

0:39:28 > 0:39:31Everywhere the art went, Richard Glanton went,

0:39:31 > 0:39:34and everywhere that Richard Glanton went, he was honoured.

0:39:34 > 0:39:38I was treated like a conquering hero in Paris and Toronto

0:39:38 > 0:39:40and Fort Worth, Texas.

0:39:40 > 0:39:43Dinner seated at the table with Princess Di,

0:39:43 > 0:39:46an invitation for her to come to the Barnes, letters from her.

0:39:46 > 0:39:49It was literally unbelievable.

0:39:50 > 0:39:54I think it was the greatest exhibition in the history of Western civilisation.

0:40:05 > 0:40:09The Barnes art now returned to great fanfare and a...

0:40:09 > 0:40:12Well, I was going to say the biggest finger in the eye

0:40:12 > 0:40:17that you could imagine, but I think that was saved for later, but...

0:40:19 > 0:40:22A showing at Philadelphia Museum.

0:40:22 > 0:40:29The arch enemy, Satan's lair, revelling in their possession,

0:40:29 > 0:40:32temporary though it was, of the Barnes art.

0:40:32 > 0:40:34This was the great slap to Barnes -

0:40:34 > 0:40:38"Well, we have to show the paintings in Philadelphia, too."

0:40:38 > 0:40:40Well, why?

0:40:40 > 0:40:42Basically, it raised a lot of money for the art museum.

0:40:42 > 0:40:47They had a big Barnes show at the art museum here and they made a lot of money on the back of it.

0:40:47 > 0:40:51Everybody involved in this had their own interests.

0:40:51 > 0:40:56The only person whose interests had no champion was Albert Barnes.

0:40:56 > 0:40:58Everyone had abandoned him.

0:41:12 > 0:41:16The paintings come back from the tour and Glanton wants to have this big party.

0:41:16 > 0:41:20Glanton's using it exactly the way Barnes didn't want it to be used,

0:41:20 > 0:41:22which was as a sort of social backdrop thing.

0:41:22 > 0:41:27We're talking all the wealthy people from Philadelphia,

0:41:27 > 0:41:30with their Rolls and all this stuff, came to the party,

0:41:30 > 0:41:33and they're just all up and down the tiny little Latch's Lane.

0:41:33 > 0:41:37The Philadelphia swells came down in droves

0:41:37 > 0:41:38and once again,

0:41:38 > 0:41:43Richard Glanton basked in the reflected glow of the Barnes art

0:41:43 > 0:41:47but what he didn't reckon with was the neighbours.

0:41:47 > 0:41:49Chaos. It was absolute chaos.

0:41:49 > 0:41:52Nothing had happened like that in the 18 years we'd lived here.

0:41:52 > 0:41:55Was this the first of many?

0:41:55 > 0:41:58Was this our neighbourhood has now changed to this?

0:41:59 > 0:42:03The Barnes Foundation has been here for over 70 years,

0:42:03 > 0:42:05lived in perfect harmony with the neighbourhood,

0:42:05 > 0:42:07through all these years, and all of a sudden,

0:42:07 > 0:42:10it becomes the Super Bowl venue for art.

0:42:11 > 0:42:15This is from Quebec, also. This is three buses today from Quebec.

0:42:15 > 0:42:17Our neighbourhood

0:42:17 > 0:42:20was completely clogged, top to bottom - five days a week,

0:42:20 > 0:42:23thousands of people a week were coming, and parking,

0:42:23 > 0:42:27and eating on my lawn and parking in my driveway.

0:42:27 > 0:42:29It happened to all of us.

0:42:29 > 0:42:31My kitchen sink faces the Barnes

0:42:31 > 0:42:33and I guess I spend half my life at the sink,

0:42:33 > 0:42:36so every time I saw a bus,

0:42:36 > 0:42:38I would run out with the camera and videotape it.

0:42:38 > 0:42:41"I don't know how you pronounce that, but that's how I feel."

0:42:41 > 0:42:45Richard Glanton referred to me that he was being harassed by the KGB.

0:42:45 > 0:42:50That was me. I felt very powerful for a moment.

0:42:50 > 0:42:52I brought the Barnes out of the dark ages

0:42:52 > 0:42:56and opened it up, and it's weird that a few people

0:42:56 > 0:42:58refused to accept that.

0:43:01 > 0:43:07We went to the township to see about fast-tracking permission to build a parking lot

0:43:07 > 0:43:10and Richard very much wanted this parking lot

0:43:10 > 0:43:11fast-tracked at this point.

0:43:11 > 0:43:14It's a commercial museum in a residential neighbourhood,

0:43:14 > 0:43:18and putting a parking lot in at that time would have made it easier for you to operate

0:43:18 > 0:43:22a commercial museum in a residential neighbourhood.

0:43:22 > 0:43:25We went to a township meeting. All the neighbours went,

0:43:25 > 0:43:27and people made speeches at the meeting.

0:43:27 > 0:43:31I got up and in my speech, I said I understood, now,

0:43:31 > 0:43:33how a carpetbagger works.

0:43:33 > 0:43:36A carpetbagger is someone who comes in from another jurisdiction and...

0:43:36 > 0:43:39They call judges carpetbaggers when they do that,

0:43:39 > 0:43:43and referring to Mr Glanton and his management team, I referred to him and his people,

0:43:43 > 0:43:45and that was the end of it.

0:43:47 > 0:43:50The township said that they couldn't fast-track a parking lot.

0:43:50 > 0:43:54Richard was not happy with that response.

0:43:54 > 0:43:56It wasn't about the cars, or the traffic.

0:43:56 > 0:44:00It was about something else. It was about being hostile.

0:44:00 > 0:44:03I don't know why. I just said, "This is enough.

0:44:03 > 0:44:07"I mean, I'm just going to bring this lawsuit."

0:44:07 > 0:44:10Dr Herman brought me to his house and said, "Bob, I have something

0:44:10 > 0:44:13"but I need you to sit down."

0:44:13 > 0:44:15I didn't know what he was talking about.

0:44:15 > 0:44:19Because of my use of the word "carpetbagger," and "his people,"

0:44:19 > 0:44:25they used those two phrases as the basis for a civil rights action.

0:44:26 > 0:44:29Glanton ordered the Barnes' lawyers

0:44:29 > 0:44:33to begin preparations for a suit against the Lower Merion township

0:44:33 > 0:44:39commissioners and the neighbours, under the Federal Ku Klux Klan Act.

0:44:40 > 0:44:44They accused us of conspiracy with the township

0:44:44 > 0:44:47to deprive them of their rights, but motivated by racial grounds.

0:44:47 > 0:44:50They compared not only me but they compared others of us to Hitler.

0:44:50 > 0:44:55They showed pictures of people being lynched in South Carolina,

0:44:55 > 0:44:58and associated that with the neighbours.

0:44:58 > 0:45:01And I'm thinking, "What the devil did I do?"

0:45:01 > 0:45:03I got up and I was concerned

0:45:03 > 0:45:06that I have buses and I can't get out of my driveway.

0:45:06 > 0:45:07What am I doing here,

0:45:07 > 0:45:11in the middle of something like this, being called Hitler?

0:45:14 > 0:45:19All over Philadelphia, in law firms hither and thither,

0:45:19 > 0:45:22the legal fees on all sides mounted

0:45:22 > 0:45:27and the Barnes' already skimpy endowment was being drained.

0:45:27 > 0:45:28It was just being drained.

0:45:28 > 0:45:32They get all this money sending the collection to Paris and Tokyo

0:45:32 > 0:45:37and God knows where, and made a huge pile of money, which then was all...

0:45:37 > 0:45:40I don't want to say "pissed away." I should say something

0:45:40 > 0:45:42more appropriate. You can cut that one out, OK?

0:45:43 > 0:45:47Richard Glanton thought that we were just going to fold and say,

0:45:47 > 0:45:49"We drop out. We're dropping out."

0:45:49 > 0:45:51He just picked the wrong neighbours.

0:45:51 > 0:45:53Eventually, the entire case was thrown out.

0:45:53 > 0:45:58Judge Brody said there was not one scintilla of racial animus

0:45:58 > 0:46:01in any of the evidence the Barnes presented.

0:46:01 > 0:46:04In this particular situation, there is not ever a comment

0:46:04 > 0:46:08made about us that's not preceded by the word "hostile."

0:46:08 > 0:46:11Their PR firm has maintained that we harassed them,

0:46:11 > 0:46:13maintained that we sued them.

0:46:13 > 0:46:15I mean, if that's what people are going to believe,

0:46:15 > 0:46:20that we're harassing them, that we're these terrible people... We've given up trying.

0:46:20 > 0:46:28Over a zoning board issue was the Ku Klux Klan Act invoked.

0:46:28 > 0:46:32And the mischief that followed is incalculable.

0:46:32 > 0:46:39Thus, the whole story turns on the tail of a 52-car parking lot.

0:46:44 > 0:46:48The President of Lincoln University is desperate to get Glanton out of there.

0:46:48 > 0:46:55And in her fury over the dismissal of the Ku Klux Klan suit,

0:46:55 > 0:47:00she prepared a draft letter to the trustees of the Barnes Foundation,

0:47:00 > 0:47:04suggesting that it was time to rotate the presidency.

0:47:08 > 0:47:11People can have their own views. They are entitled to them.

0:47:11 > 0:47:13But...

0:47:13 > 0:47:16my story is that it was a second rebirth of Barnes

0:47:16 > 0:47:18during my time here as President.

0:47:19 > 0:47:23I tried to do something real quick that was different,

0:47:23 > 0:47:25because it had to be done.

0:47:25 > 0:47:29And I knew I had no time to mess around, because...

0:47:29 > 0:47:33What was that dog's name - Cerebus? Guards the gates of hell.

0:47:33 > 0:47:34He was after me.

0:47:35 > 0:47:38I've been approached about turning the Barnes over

0:47:38 > 0:47:43to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on at least two occasions,

0:47:43 > 0:47:48and I was approached about turning it over to some other institutions on other occasions.

0:47:48 > 0:47:52But I had no intention of reigning while somebody else ruled

0:47:52 > 0:47:55and that was, in their view, the end of me.

0:47:56 > 0:48:01They laid the groundwork and said the money that was spent on the lawsuits ruined the Barnes,

0:48:01 > 0:48:02which is not true.

0:48:02 > 0:48:07It had more money than it had when I came in, and a new building.

0:48:07 > 0:48:12Curiously, Glanton said to me at the time that...

0:48:12 > 0:48:14This is not quite how he put it,

0:48:14 > 0:48:19but that he was the bulwark against the establishment stealing the Barnes.

0:48:21 > 0:48:22And in a perverse way,

0:48:22 > 0:48:26I think that Richard Glanton is absolutely correct about that.

0:48:26 > 0:48:29I was just like, "OK, here are the keys."

0:48:29 > 0:48:35Go do your masters' bidding, run it into the ground, into a wall.

0:48:35 > 0:48:40That's what I wrote to the Attorney General - "They're going to run it into a brick wall."

0:48:43 > 0:48:45I'm sure I saw the letter.

0:48:46 > 0:48:50I'm not going to say that his predictions were accurate per se.

0:48:52 > 0:48:58But once he left, there was not the same level of drive

0:48:58 > 0:49:00with those who remained,

0:49:00 > 0:49:04and in the long run, I thought that would continue to drag the Barnes down.

0:49:19 > 0:49:22And so there we were, with the Barnes board,

0:49:22 > 0:49:24minus Richard Glanton,

0:49:24 > 0:49:26with the Barnes' already parlous endowment

0:49:26 > 0:49:29reduced to virtually nothing.

0:49:29 > 0:49:31The Barnes Foundation, without any funds,

0:49:31 > 0:49:35without an effective leadership, is sitting in this building

0:49:35 > 0:49:37as a sitting duck.

0:49:37 > 0:49:42So these forces began to line up and work towards something

0:49:42 > 0:49:47that had absolutely nothing to do with what Barnes wanted.

0:49:47 > 0:49:50With the agreement between Barnes

0:49:50 > 0:49:55and the state of Pennsylvania embodied in a legal document,

0:49:55 > 0:50:01all of that was sort of left in a drawer while politicians

0:50:01 > 0:50:05and billionaires and cultural mavens and foundations got busy.

0:50:19 > 0:50:24The Barnes was given just enough money by the foundations

0:50:24 > 0:50:28so that they could claim that they were trying to help the poor old Barnes out,

0:50:28 > 0:50:31but that was never, in my opinion, the goal.

0:50:31 > 0:50:34Foundations are non-profit corporations.

0:50:34 > 0:50:36We're used to hearing about corporate takeovers

0:50:36 > 0:50:38with for-profit corporations

0:50:38 > 0:50:41but this was a non-profit corporate takeover.

0:50:41 > 0:50:45And the first thing you have to do is remake the Board of Trustees, so you have a compliant board

0:50:45 > 0:50:47who is on your side.

0:50:48 > 0:50:51In the period after Richard Glanton was out,

0:50:51 > 0:50:54the foundation was just sort of pottering along.

0:50:54 > 0:50:56It was still controlled by Lincoln.

0:50:56 > 0:51:00Four of the five board members were Lincoln board members.

0:51:00 > 0:51:03The President of the Board of Trustees put on the board by Lincoln

0:51:03 > 0:51:05was Bernie Watson.

0:51:07 > 0:51:10Watson was very politically connected,

0:51:10 > 0:51:13a professional foundation executive.

0:51:13 > 0:51:17And he was the Chairman of the City Convention Centre -

0:51:17 > 0:51:19the tourist bureau.

0:51:20 > 0:51:24In the midst of that steps up these Philadelphia foundations.

0:51:26 > 0:51:30They were giving to help them raise... I think it was 150 million.

0:51:30 > 0:51:32From the very beginning, Pew's thought was,

0:51:32 > 0:51:37"Well, we're going to give you money - we'll get something out of it. We want some control."

0:51:37 > 0:51:40It was pretty clear to me they weren't just going to give

0:51:40 > 0:51:4550, 70, 100 million without getting control of the Barnes board.

0:51:46 > 0:51:50Well, if you're Bernie Watson, your duty was to maintain a connection

0:51:50 > 0:51:54between Barnes and Lincoln, because that was part of the trust indenture.

0:51:54 > 0:51:57I mean, what does Lincoln have to offer for Bernie Watson?

0:51:57 > 0:52:01He makes his living from the sort of institutions

0:52:01 > 0:52:03and people who want this thing to happen.

0:52:03 > 0:52:08Watson went ahead and negotiated a deal that cut Lincoln out.

0:52:09 > 0:52:13The only way for Pew or any other foundation to get control,

0:52:13 > 0:52:18to be able to place board members was for the indenture to be changed.

0:52:18 > 0:52:22And then they'd go to court and change the rules that Barnes laid down.

0:52:22 > 0:52:26Lincoln didn't have a clue Watson and these Philadelphia foundations

0:52:26 > 0:52:29had a plan to basically push them aside.

0:52:29 > 0:52:31They flipped out.

0:52:32 > 0:52:36They got an attorney and tried to intervene and stop it.

0:52:36 > 0:52:39There were enough people who were making noises

0:52:39 > 0:52:41that the plan was starting to fall apart

0:52:41 > 0:52:48to the point where more aggressive tactics needed to be employed.

0:52:49 > 0:52:53Ed Rendell, governor at the time, starts to put pressure on Lincoln.

0:52:53 > 0:52:55He's the governor.

0:52:55 > 0:52:59He controls the purse strings of this state-affiliated institution.

0:52:59 > 0:53:01He said, "Look,

0:53:01 > 0:53:05"Lincoln, you could be in a rosy position if you go along with this.

0:53:05 > 0:53:08"What have you gotten out of Barnes so far?"

0:53:08 > 0:53:10Along with Rendell, the Attorney General decides

0:53:10 > 0:53:12he's going to help pressure Lincoln,

0:53:12 > 0:53:16and the thing that he has is the ability to say,

0:53:16 > 0:53:20"You get nothing, Lincoln, if you guys don't play along."

0:53:20 > 0:53:23I don't know that we were ever as direct as saying,

0:53:23 > 0:53:27"We can take this away from you," because that would take a court,

0:53:27 > 0:53:30but I had to explain to them that maybe the Attorney General's office

0:53:30 > 0:53:34would have to take some action involving them

0:53:34 > 0:53:38that might have to change the complexion of the board.

0:53:38 > 0:53:42And whether I said that directly or I implied it,

0:53:42 > 0:53:44I think they finally got the message and...

0:53:44 > 0:53:48They say - you mentioned it - it was portrayed that I was the bad cop

0:53:48 > 0:53:51and the Governor was the good cop.

0:53:51 > 0:53:53The Governor had the money.

0:53:53 > 0:53:56And he had some money he was willing to add onto it,

0:53:56 > 0:53:59so that automatically made him the good cop.

0:54:05 > 0:54:08There is some money proposed for Lincoln,

0:54:08 > 0:54:12to offset some of the perhaps perceived losses they might have.

0:54:12 > 0:54:15As I recall, it was about 40 million and I said,

0:54:15 > 0:54:19"You tell me what you want to spend the 40 million dollars on."

0:54:21 > 0:54:23That's not a whole lot of money to some schools

0:54:23 > 0:54:27but it's a whole lot of money to Lincoln University.

0:54:29 > 0:54:33I think that was part of the price of Lincoln letting go.

0:54:33 > 0:54:37They weren't blackmailed into agreeing with this at all.

0:54:37 > 0:54:41If you ask the board, I made it abundantly clear

0:54:41 > 0:54:45to Mr Scott and others that they were getting this money regardless.

0:54:54 > 0:54:56They pressured the shit out of them.

0:54:56 > 0:54:58And in the end, they caved.

0:55:01 > 0:55:03What the Philadelphia foundations did

0:55:03 > 0:55:06is what takes place all the time in the corporate world,

0:55:06 > 0:55:11which is to take over the board by adding new positions on the board.

0:55:11 > 0:55:14You don't go in and kill all the board members that are there -

0:55:14 > 0:55:17you just put ten more on so that those five

0:55:17 > 0:55:19no longer have a majority.

0:55:21 > 0:55:26Watson negotiated a deal that watered-down Lincoln's participation

0:55:26 > 0:55:28in the management of the foundation,

0:55:28 > 0:55:32yet he betrayed Barnes, I think, first,

0:55:32 > 0:55:35but to the extent Lincoln put people on the board thinking,

0:55:35 > 0:55:38"You're going to keep Lincoln in the picture."

0:55:38 > 0:55:39He betrayed them, too.

0:55:46 > 0:55:50They sold Lincoln University for a shekel.

0:55:50 > 0:55:53They sold it down the creek, and they had no right to do that.

0:55:56 > 0:55:59The Philadelphia establishment,

0:55:59 > 0:56:04who he determined that never would they get their hands on this art,

0:56:04 > 0:56:06now have it in their hands.

0:56:10 > 0:56:15From the public side, for me and every other newspaper reader,

0:56:15 > 0:56:17the first thing we got was,

0:56:17 > 0:56:21"Oh, all these foundations want to help the Barnes Foundation."

0:56:21 > 0:56:26Foundations, they are there to serve public needs. They get tax benefits.

0:56:26 > 0:56:30So these places, whether it's Pew or Annenberg or anybody else,

0:56:30 > 0:56:32they have public responsibilities.

0:56:33 > 0:56:35The responsibility should be,

0:56:35 > 0:56:37how do you keep this going?

0:56:37 > 0:56:40Not how do you exploit this - how do you preserve it?

0:56:43 > 0:56:46They didn't say what their real goal was.

0:56:46 > 0:56:48What was their real goal?

0:56:57 > 0:57:02'From NPR News, this is All Things Considered. I'm Michelle Norris.'

0:57:02 > 0:57:04'And I'm Robert Siegel.

0:57:04 > 0:57:07'After two years of legal battles, one of the world's

0:57:07 > 0:57:10'leading collections of Impressionist art is getting a new home.

0:57:10 > 0:57:14'Today a Pennsylvania judge ruled that the Barnes Foundation

0:57:14 > 0:57:16'can move its collection from the suburbs to a new gallery

0:57:16 > 0:57:19'in downtown Philadelphia."

0:57:20 > 0:57:23'Dr Albert Barnes made his fortune selling pharmaceuticals.

0:57:23 > 0:57:26'He spent it acquiring paintings by Matisse, Picasso,

0:57:26 > 0:57:28'Renoir, Cezanne and other masters.

0:57:28 > 0:57:32'But two years ago, the foundation that oversees the art announced it was broke.

0:57:32 > 0:57:37'Since it's prohibited from selling any of the works in its Lower Merion gallery,

0:57:37 > 0:57:41'it asked for a court's permission to move the art to a new gallery in Philadelphia

0:57:41 > 0:57:44'where it could draw more visitors and raise more money.

0:57:44 > 0:57:46'Rebecca Rimel is CEO of Pew Charitable Trusts,

0:57:46 > 0:57:50'one of three philanthropies offering to raise 100 million

0:57:50 > 0:57:51'for a new gallery,

0:57:51 > 0:57:54'and 50,000 to replenish the foundation's depleted endowment.'

0:57:54 > 0:57:58'The judge felt, and of course we have felt since the beginning,

0:57:58 > 0:58:01'that this is not only honouring the donor's intent but making sure

0:58:01 > 0:58:04'the collection will be available for generations to come.'

0:58:04 > 0:58:07'Barnes officials were giddy today but admitted there was much to be done

0:58:07 > 0:58:11'before the paintings leave Lower Merion for good.'

0:58:12 > 0:58:17The foundation became fiscally impossible to sustain

0:58:17 > 0:58:18in its current location.

0:58:18 > 0:58:23Three or four executive directors came in and tried to make

0:58:23 > 0:58:28the Barnes financially sustainable in Lower Merion. They failed.

0:58:28 > 0:58:31There were very strict limits on the number of people who could visit.

0:58:31 > 0:58:37The community was very hard on being sure those limits were adhered to.

0:58:37 > 0:58:41You've got this magnificent collection being hidden away from the world.

0:58:41 > 0:58:42Down in Philadelphia,

0:58:42 > 0:58:46ten times more people a day can be able to see it.

0:58:46 > 0:58:50It's too small. It's too small. The building is too small.

0:58:51 > 0:58:54There's such an emphasis on preserving

0:58:54 > 0:58:56the artistic ensemble method

0:58:56 > 0:59:01that Barnes seemed to favour, of hanging and arranging his paintings,

0:59:01 > 0:59:05so I think people will then have the kind of experience that he intended.

0:59:05 > 0:59:09And then you have the secondary benefit of what this would do

0:59:09 > 0:59:14to continue Philadelphia's drive to be a great tourism destination city.

0:59:14 > 0:59:16# There is so much to do So much to see

0:59:16 > 0:59:19# There's nowhere that I'd rather be than Philly... #

0:59:19 > 0:59:23Visitors here spend over 17 million dollars a day,

0:59:23 > 0:59:27so if you have more visitors, and my understanding is

0:59:27 > 0:59:30that even looking at it conservatively,

0:59:30 > 0:59:32the Barnes located on the Parkway

0:59:32 > 0:59:37would be able to accommodate four times as many visitors per year,

0:59:37 > 0:59:39so you can start doing the math.

0:59:39 > 0:59:43# We can see why Philly's more fun when you sleep over! #

0:59:54 > 0:59:57These, I would say, are the key players involved.

0:59:57 > 1:00:01The key political backers and financial backers of the move.

1:00:01 > 1:00:06Primarily, the Pew Charitable Trusts and its director, Rebecca Rimel,

1:00:08 > 1:00:14In consortium with, or as I like to put it, as part of a cabal,

1:00:14 > 1:00:16with the Lenfest Foundation -

1:00:16 > 1:00:19that's Jerry Lenfest, who has a powerful conflict of interest,

1:00:19 > 1:00:23as the chairman of the trustees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,

1:00:23 > 1:00:27supported by Governor Rendell and Mayor Street,

1:00:27 > 1:00:31and Leonore Annenberg, the widow of the late Walter Annenberg,

1:00:31 > 1:00:34who spent much of the last part of his life

1:00:34 > 1:00:37trying to gain possession of the Barnes.

1:00:37 > 1:00:39I am sure many among them believe sincerely

1:00:39 > 1:00:43that what they're doing will be for the good of Philadelphia.

1:00:43 > 1:00:46We're going to build a world-class

1:00:46 > 1:00:49centre for the fabulous Barnes Collection,

1:00:49 > 1:00:52which has no peer anywhere else on earth.

1:00:52 > 1:00:56And I am delighted to be here today with the mayor to make sure

1:00:56 > 1:01:00this is done in the appropriate way - with intelligence, with reason

1:01:00 > 1:01:01and compassion.

1:01:01 > 1:01:03APPLAUSE

1:01:06 > 1:01:11My feeling about Philadelphia is that it doesn't do itself justice.

1:01:11 > 1:01:17Saying, we need to be a world-class city by stealing an art collection

1:01:17 > 1:01:22and bringing it down to what I call a McBarnes in downtown Philadelphia.

1:01:22 > 1:01:25This is going to be a great event for the city of Philadelphia.

1:01:25 > 1:01:29It will attract literally tens of thousands of visitors,

1:01:29 > 1:01:32I'm told, in a given year.

1:01:32 > 1:01:35The Barnes Collection on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway

1:01:35 > 1:01:40would have the economic impact of three Super Bowls, without the beer.

1:01:40 > 1:01:44A city that has any sense of its own identity

1:01:44 > 1:01:47doesn't talk about BECOMING a world-class city.

1:01:47 > 1:01:48It is what it is.

1:01:48 > 1:01:54And this is the world-class of cheerleading, of pep rallies,

1:01:54 > 1:01:57and of building a new baseball stadium,

1:01:57 > 1:02:01or a convention centre. That's not what art is about.

1:02:07 > 1:02:11I see the people attempting to move the Barnes Foundation as vandals.

1:02:13 > 1:02:17Tourism and generation of money, greed...

1:02:17 > 1:02:21And the Barnes Foundation is an unfortunate victim

1:02:21 > 1:02:22of all this bullshit.

1:02:24 > 1:02:27We're at 20th and the Parkway,

1:02:27 > 1:02:30where they intend to build the new Barnes.

1:02:30 > 1:02:34They're having a party here, thinking that they'll go ahead with this plan,

1:02:34 > 1:02:38so we're here to confront the people who are paying for this thing,

1:02:38 > 1:02:41so we just want them to know it's a bad idea.

1:02:41 > 1:02:44Attention, everyone! Attention!

1:02:44 > 1:02:47Welcome, welcome, welcome to the predators' ball!

1:02:47 > 1:02:49Everyone you see around me

1:02:49 > 1:02:53and behind me are participating in a criminal conspiracy

1:02:53 > 1:02:58to bring off the greatest theft of art since the Second World War.

1:02:58 > 1:03:03We're sort of protesting their party because a lot of these people don't even realise what they are doing -

1:03:03 > 1:03:08destroying a man's will, this collection, which half of them don't even have a clue about.

1:03:08 > 1:03:12Have fun now! Wait till it's your will!

1:03:12 > 1:03:15Barnes was married, never had children.

1:03:15 > 1:03:19Never had anyone that could have come in after the fact

1:03:19 > 1:03:22and said, "Hey, you screwed my grandfather over -

1:03:22 > 1:03:23"I want the paintings."

1:03:23 > 1:03:26The grandchildren were the students who showed up 50 years later.

1:03:26 > 1:03:29For anyone who's familiar with Dr Barnes' will,

1:03:29 > 1:03:33everything that he said, this will be destructive to his creation.

1:03:33 > 1:03:36I implore you to vote "no."

1:03:37 > 1:03:40The motion passes. Thank you very much.

1:03:41 > 1:03:44Right now, The Friends of the Barnes is an organisation with one reason

1:03:44 > 1:03:48to exist - to prevent the relocation of the gallery art collection.

1:03:48 > 1:03:50It's such a great all-American story.

1:03:50 > 1:03:53It's almost a Barnesian story of the heroic little guy

1:03:53 > 1:03:59fighting the forces of City Hall and the downtown oligarchy.

1:03:59 > 1:04:02- That's what Barnes was doing. - You get a choice here,

1:04:02 > 1:04:06to listen to the folks who live near the Barnes Foundation,

1:04:06 > 1:04:08who went to school there...

1:04:08 > 1:04:11We're going to be happy to have it, but thanks for trying.

1:04:11 > 1:04:12Friends of the Barnes

1:04:12 > 1:04:14approached the county

1:04:14 > 1:04:16and said, "We're struggling.

1:04:16 > 1:04:21"We'd like you to come out and be part of this fight to save the Barnes in Montgomery County."

1:04:21 > 1:04:24I think it was that point that the momentum began to build

1:04:24 > 1:04:27and the residents of Montgomery County had a feeling that

1:04:27 > 1:04:29Philadelphia can't just take our art.

1:04:29 > 1:04:33So, would the Barnes Foundation, one of the world's greatest art collections,

1:04:33 > 1:04:35move from the suburbs to the city of Philadelphia?

1:04:35 > 1:04:39As Fox 29's Gerald Kolpan explains, while it appears the legal hurdles

1:04:39 > 1:04:42have been cleared, some say, "Not so fast."

1:04:42 > 1:04:45'Montgomery County and the local group Friends of the Barnes

1:04:45 > 1:04:49'have retained counsel, saying if the Barnes board has raised the money for the move,

1:04:49 > 1:04:53'they should have been able to raise the same money to improve the Barnes where it is.

1:04:53 > 1:04:56'There are still unknowns in this case.'

1:04:56 > 1:04:59No-one knows just how much it'll cost taxpayers.

1:04:59 > 1:05:04And no-one knows how hard Montgomery County is willing to fight.

1:05:06 > 1:05:10I don't have any respect for the cultural

1:05:10 > 1:05:12and political lead of Pennsylvania.

1:05:12 > 1:05:15You know, these are grade-B players

1:05:15 > 1:05:18who, basically, are doing tourism promotion.

1:05:18 > 1:05:21This is the Disneyland of paintings.

1:05:21 > 1:05:23That's not what Dr Barnes wanted.

1:05:25 > 1:05:28My primary goal is to reopen these proceedings

1:05:28 > 1:05:33by filing a petition and persuading this judge

1:05:33 > 1:05:35that there were things that he didn't know about,

1:05:36 > 1:05:40that if he had known about them, that the outcome would have been different.

1:05:40 > 1:05:46What happened is this became a feeding trough for politicians.

1:05:46 > 1:05:49The story is that

1:05:49 > 1:05:52the Barnes has to move in order to be saved.

1:05:52 > 1:05:53It's not true.

1:05:53 > 1:05:56People wanted it to happen and they assessed the situation,

1:05:56 > 1:05:58they saw what was needed to make it happen,

1:05:58 > 1:06:00and were powerful enough to do it.

1:06:00 > 1:06:04I'm convinced Judge Ott is a wonderful judge,

1:06:04 > 1:06:05and he's going to do the right thing

1:06:05 > 1:06:08and find that yes, we can survive in Montgomery County,

1:06:08 > 1:06:10and that's where the gallery belongs.

1:06:10 > 1:06:12The move is not a done deal.

1:06:13 > 1:06:17As far as I'm concerned, this is a deal coming undone.

1:06:24 > 1:06:28It was a combination of the establishment forces

1:06:28 > 1:06:33and I think they focused on it like Ahab focused on the white whale,

1:06:33 > 1:06:37and I think the objective took over.

1:06:37 > 1:06:42I don't think that anybody there thinks about Barnes or alternatives

1:06:42 > 1:06:44or consequences.

1:06:44 > 1:06:49I think that this is the glory they wish to capture.

1:06:49 > 1:06:52The reason it was permitted to move to Philadelphia

1:06:52 > 1:06:55was because the presentation by the foundation showed

1:06:55 > 1:06:59that it was financially not feasible to stay in Montgomery County

1:06:59 > 1:07:01and to survive.

1:07:01 > 1:07:03It was going down the tubes

1:07:03 > 1:07:06and there was no answer to its problems.

1:07:06 > 1:07:11If anybody can't fund the Barnes, which is a tiny little budget,

1:07:11 > 1:07:15out of the private sector,

1:07:15 > 1:07:17then they ought to find another job.

1:07:20 > 1:07:25You can't get enough people in because of the restrictions and the parking problems.

1:07:25 > 1:07:28They couldn't get enough people into the Barnes to see it,

1:07:28 > 1:07:30to make it even close to financially workable.

1:07:30 > 1:07:32That's not the way it is any more.

1:07:32 > 1:07:35Lower Merion township, on its own, did go ahead

1:07:35 > 1:07:37and they changed the zoning restrictions.

1:07:37 > 1:07:41The township was able to say to the gallery, "You're allowed to admit

1:07:41 > 1:07:45"more persons per day and open the gallery more days per week."

1:07:45 > 1:07:48So there is real potential here to bring in more revenue.

1:07:49 > 1:07:52There was no movement whatsoever from the foundation,

1:07:52 > 1:07:54so they didn't allow themselves to take in more visitors

1:07:54 > 1:07:56and to gain more revenue.

1:07:56 > 1:07:59And the supposition is the trustees liked it that way,

1:07:59 > 1:08:04because they didn't want people to feel the ease of accessing the Barnes,

1:08:04 > 1:08:06that they wanted people to say, "Get it out of there -

1:08:06 > 1:08:09"bring it to Philadelphia, where we can get into it."

1:08:09 > 1:08:12There are a lot of ways this gallery can remain in Montgomery County.

1:08:12 > 1:08:15If there was a deal offered to the foundation -

1:08:15 > 1:08:17we estimated 50 million -

1:08:17 > 1:08:20the county would float a bond for 50 million,

1:08:20 > 1:08:23which enables the foundation to have an ongoing endowment

1:08:23 > 1:08:26that would allow it to remain in Montgomery County.

1:08:26 > 1:08:28You know, in six weeks, the Barnes Foundation

1:08:28 > 1:08:33could have 50 million in the bank and, you know, they could be fine.

1:08:33 > 1:08:37This was all opened up to the foundation for purposes

1:08:37 > 1:08:40of negotiation. "There's a way we can make this work."

1:08:40 > 1:08:45We had a response back from the foundation, outright saying "We're not interested in this."

1:08:45 > 1:08:51There has to be a reason that they're not interested in responding to that.

1:08:51 > 1:08:53They never wanted to raise money.

1:08:53 > 1:08:58They wanted this place to go bust.

1:08:58 > 1:09:01They wanted it to go bust so that they would have a reason

1:09:01 > 1:09:05to bring people in, to dissolve the indenture,

1:09:05 > 1:09:08because they could then argue that they couldn't operate

1:09:08 > 1:09:10on the basis of the indenture,

1:09:10 > 1:09:12and they could do it with impunity

1:09:12 > 1:09:14and then get autonomy to operate the way they wanted.

1:09:14 > 1:09:16So anybody that tells me

1:09:16 > 1:09:21there wasn't the money to keep it where it is...is nonsensical.

1:09:22 > 1:09:26The forces wanted it moved, no matter what.

1:09:27 > 1:09:31Why wouldn't the great foundations of Philadelphia want to save

1:09:31 > 1:09:34the Barnes Foundation exactly where it is?

1:09:34 > 1:09:38I mean, they are Philadelphia institutions -

1:09:38 > 1:09:41they should want to preserve a Philadelphia institution

1:09:41 > 1:09:45as a really original institution.

1:09:45 > 1:09:46Why wouldn't they want to do that?

1:09:46 > 1:09:51'One of the nation's largest private foundations is now a charity.

1:09:51 > 1:09:56'The Pew Charitable Trust control 4 billion in assets.

1:09:56 > 1:09:59'The change in status will save Pew millions of dollars in taxes

1:09:59 > 1:10:03'and it will have fewer restrictions on how it can spend its money.'

1:10:03 > 1:10:07One thing that a public charity has to do

1:10:07 > 1:10:12is demonstrate that it has the capacity to raise money.

1:10:12 > 1:10:16Coincidentally, Pew stepped forward and said, "We would be happy to be

1:10:16 > 1:10:22"the lead foundation to assemble the funds to facilitate

1:10:22 > 1:10:25"the move of the Barnes Foundation."

1:10:26 > 1:10:29Our application to become a public charity

1:10:29 > 1:10:32had absolutely nothing to do with the Barnes.

1:10:32 > 1:10:36You know, in court, Rebecca Rimel said,

1:10:36 > 1:10:38"Oh, the Barnes Foundation, that's nice,

1:10:38 > 1:10:41"but that's not why we did it."

1:10:41 > 1:10:44Well, you go look at their application to the IRS,

1:10:44 > 1:10:47that's all they talk about, the Barnes Foundation.

1:10:50 > 1:10:52Look, charity is big business.

1:10:52 > 1:10:57If you're really in it for altruism, you're going to be a pink lady in a hospital,

1:10:57 > 1:11:01you're going to be going out, feeding the poor from your church's outreach group.

1:11:01 > 1:11:04These people are power-brokers.

1:11:04 > 1:11:07Don't for one minute think that if Rebecca Rimel finds,

1:11:07 > 1:11:10"I now have 400 million a year to give away,

1:11:10 > 1:11:14"and manipulate various things in the state or in the city with what clout I have.

1:11:14 > 1:11:18"Boy, can you imagine how much clout I'll have with a billion a year to give away

1:11:18 > 1:11:20"instead of only 400 million?"

1:11:27 > 1:11:31It was in the filings, the first time we discovered that Pew had now

1:11:31 > 1:11:33estimated that the value of the Barnes art was not,

1:11:33 > 1:11:38as Glanton had thought, 4.5 billion, or I had thought, 6.5 billion,

1:11:38 > 1:11:42but according to the Pew it was 25 billion to 30 billion worth of art.

1:11:44 > 1:11:48The three foundations never said that they would give 150 million,

1:11:48 > 1:11:50- they said they would- raise - 150 million.

1:11:50 > 1:11:53- Even if they- gave- 150 million,

1:11:53 > 1:11:57it's the greatest bargain maybe in the history of the art world -

1:11:57 > 1:12:03to get 25 billion worth of irreplaceable Post-Impressionist masterpieces

1:12:03 > 1:12:05for what for them is a drop in the bucket.

1:12:14 > 1:12:16On a Friday,

1:12:16 > 1:12:20in October of 2006, I got an e-mail...

1:12:22 > 1:12:27..from someone within the Friends of the Barnes,

1:12:27 > 1:12:33saying that squirreled away in the 2001-2002 Budget

1:12:33 > 1:12:36of the state of Pennsylvania

1:12:36 > 1:12:39was 107 million.

1:12:39 > 1:12:437 million for upgrades of the Merion property,

1:12:43 > 1:12:47100 million for the move downtown.

1:13:04 > 1:13:06It's amazing to me. In the case,

1:13:06 > 1:13:12I called the appropriation the immaculate appropriation, because it had no father or mother.

1:13:12 > 1:13:16Nobody knows who asked to put the money in.

1:13:16 > 1:13:20So maybe it was divine inspiration. We don't know.

1:13:21 > 1:13:25The Budget bill was a very thick piece of legislation

1:13:25 > 1:13:30and 99% of the other members of the General Assembly, I'm sure,

1:13:30 > 1:13:35didn't know when they voted on that capital budget bill that particular project was in there.

1:13:36 > 1:13:39It was never publicised. The judge didn't know.

1:13:39 > 1:13:44But the people who were trying to take over the foundation, within that group of people...

1:13:46 > 1:13:50..it's... It would be unbelievable that nobody knew.

1:13:52 > 1:13:56The rescue operation said, "We will raise 100 million

1:13:56 > 1:14:01"to build a new building in downtown Philadelphia for the Barnes Foundation."

1:14:01 > 1:14:07The state budget allocated 100 million to build a new building

1:14:07 > 1:14:10for the Barnes Foundation in downtown Philadelphia.

1:14:10 > 1:14:13What a coincidence! A shocking coincidence.

1:14:13 > 1:14:17Somebody with influence got that put in there.

1:14:17 > 1:14:20Whoever that person was, or people, or institution,

1:14:20 > 1:14:25never let on in court that that money was available.

1:14:25 > 1:14:27You come to court, you say, "We're broke,

1:14:27 > 1:14:31"there's no other way we can raise the money, we've got to move this collection."

1:14:31 > 1:14:35Had the judge known that, "Oh, the state could put up 100 million,"

1:14:35 > 1:14:37it would have been a whole other story.

1:14:37 > 1:14:41Rebecca Rimel professes, "We didn't have anything to do with it."

1:14:41 > 1:14:46People involved in the takeover of the Barnes Foundation

1:14:46 > 1:14:50knew it was there and kept that information from the court.

1:14:50 > 1:14:52Is that a linchpin? Yeah.

1:14:52 > 1:14:54What are the surrounding circumstances

1:14:54 > 1:14:57that should have been brought to the attention of this judge?

1:14:57 > 1:15:00If I was Judge Ott, I'd be furious.

1:15:00 > 1:15:04I'd be looking for a way to turn this thing around.

1:15:04 > 1:15:06Because he got taken for a ride.

1:15:06 > 1:15:10I don't know many judges that like to get duped in their courtrooms.

1:15:10 > 1:15:13I don't know many judges that like to be made fools of.

1:15:13 > 1:15:15Judge Ott was made a fool of by these people.

1:15:22 > 1:15:25So you see all these interlocking relationships,

1:15:25 > 1:15:28and if I were a conspiratorial figure,

1:15:28 > 1:15:32I'd think an enormous conspiracy is at work here

1:15:32 > 1:15:36of monied interest to have their will, to have their way,

1:15:36 > 1:15:40to manipulate the Treasury of the state of Pennsylvania,

1:15:40 > 1:15:43to manipulate the legal system of Pennsylvania,

1:15:43 > 1:15:46to manipulate Dr Barnes' desires and wishes,

1:15:46 > 1:15:48to manipulate Lincoln University,

1:15:48 > 1:15:52to play on this needy little college so desperate for money

1:15:52 > 1:15:57and know that 50 million would blind to their eyes to what was really in their grasp.

1:15:57 > 1:16:01I just think they wanted to capture the prize.

1:16:01 > 1:16:06And the whole establishment mobilised to that end.

1:16:06 > 1:16:09They don't like to have the whole thing questioned.

1:16:09 > 1:16:12I think they used to getting their way, and this was the way,

1:16:12 > 1:16:15and if you question it, you're standing in the way.

1:16:21 > 1:16:26If any major figure within the Philadelphia art world wanted to speak against this idea,

1:16:26 > 1:16:30they could kiss the Pew Charitable Trust goodbye,

1:16:30 > 1:16:32they could kiss the Lenfest Foundation goodbye,

1:16:32 > 1:16:35they could kiss the Annenberg Foundation goodbye.

1:16:35 > 1:16:38Perhaps they could kiss their own job goodbye. No-one could speak.

1:16:40 > 1:16:43- Yeah, but the news is in here. - That's all I'm asking.

1:16:43 > 1:16:45I'm just asking a question.

1:16:45 > 1:16:50- And I'm telling you the answer. - You're not giving me an answer. Are news crews allowed in or not?

1:16:50 > 1:16:56- If the news are allowed in, though, and we're part of the press, then we should be allowed inside.- No.

1:16:56 > 1:17:01So even though the Mayor's office said it was open to the press

1:17:01 > 1:17:04- and that we could come...- We're not going to keep talking about it.

1:17:04 > 1:17:06Please step out.

1:17:06 > 1:17:10People in museums in New York and San Francisco and Chicago

1:17:10 > 1:17:14and Dallas and other places didn't say a goddamn word

1:17:14 > 1:17:17while all this was going on. I think they were scared.

1:17:17 > 1:17:20They were frightened of these foundations who are benevolent

1:17:20 > 1:17:24and give great sums of money to all kinds of causes. Some of them have supported the NAACP.

1:17:24 > 1:17:27I've often wondered if I'm not endangering my organisation

1:17:27 > 1:17:30by complaining about their bad behaviour in this case.

1:17:30 > 1:17:34The force of that, in effect, is keeping the Barnes hostage.

1:17:34 > 1:17:35Almost overwhelming.

1:17:35 > 1:17:39You could ask the simple question, who speaks for the art,

1:17:39 > 1:17:45or the legacy of Dr Barnes, when so many powerful political

1:17:45 > 1:17:51and economic forces are at work against it?

1:18:14 > 1:18:16Yeah, it's a big day.

1:18:16 > 1:18:18Today is oral arguments,

1:18:18 > 1:18:22which means what both sides have already said to the judge in writing

1:18:22 > 1:18:26they're going to repeat, you know, in front of him.

1:18:29 > 1:18:31And he'll decide whether to...

1:18:31 > 1:18:34grant our petition and convene some hearings to decide

1:18:34 > 1:18:39whether the Barnes Foundation should still be permitted to move downtown.

1:18:39 > 1:18:44Or he'll pretty much, in essence, throw us out of court.

1:18:44 > 1:18:47That'll be bad news.

1:18:48 > 1:18:50It's all in Stanley Ott's hands.

1:18:50 > 1:18:54If Stanley wants to undo it, he can undo it.

1:18:54 > 1:18:58He can say he was given a lot of baloney the first time through

1:18:58 > 1:19:01and the record can now be set straight

1:19:01 > 1:19:06and it deserves to be set straight. And I think he's a good enough judge to make that decision.

1:19:06 > 1:19:09We have an obligation to do what Dr Barnes wanted us to do

1:19:09 > 1:19:12and I think that's the essence of this whole thing -

1:19:12 > 1:19:16that not enough was done to fully explore what can be done to keep the Barnes where it is.

1:19:16 > 1:19:19Some people, like Friends of the Barnes, won't let that happen.

1:19:19 > 1:19:21Hopefully, they'll be successful.

1:19:24 > 1:19:27Unfortunately, the thing has gotten to be a big political football.

1:19:27 > 1:19:29And it never should have gotten there.

1:19:29 > 1:19:32In that sense, Richard Glanton was absolutely right.

1:19:32 > 1:19:35Glanton said, when I asked him what it's all about, he said,

1:19:35 > 1:19:39"It's about who controls 4.5 billion worth of art

1:19:39 > 1:19:41"and everything else is bullshit."

1:19:41 > 1:19:45Well, no, Richard was wrong.

1:19:45 > 1:19:47It's about who controls 25 billion worth of art

1:19:47 > 1:19:49and everything else is bullshit.

1:20:29 > 1:20:34Well, Wednesday night, I got home, and there was an e-mail on my computer.

1:20:34 > 1:20:38The subject heading was that the judge had issued his decision.

1:20:39 > 1:20:43He apparently has decided that he's not going to conduct...

1:20:43 > 1:20:48He's not going to investigate any of the...

1:20:48 > 1:20:52any of the matters that our petition brought to the court's attention.

1:20:52 > 1:20:55He had declined to order new hearings by declaring

1:20:55 > 1:21:00that none of the petitioners - the Friends of the Barnes Foundation and Montgomery County -

1:21:00 > 1:21:02had standing to intervene in the matter.

1:21:22 > 1:21:26I don't think the judge or the trustees of the Barnes Foundation

1:21:26 > 1:21:32or anybody who's supporting the move, who sincerely supports the move,

1:21:32 > 1:21:37the gallery downtown, that they understand what it is they're doing.

1:21:39 > 1:21:42It'll be a tragedy and it'll be a tragedy long remembered.

1:21:42 > 1:21:44This is not some minor thing.

1:21:47 > 1:21:52It's not often in life you get to really try hard for something you deeply believe in

1:21:52 > 1:21:55and I've gotten a chance to do that.

1:21:57 > 1:22:01I would much rather be celebrating this than...

1:22:01 > 1:22:04than...

1:22:04 > 1:22:08whatever the opposite of celebrating is. Mourning.

1:22:15 > 1:22:18So the city gets its tourist venue.

1:22:20 > 1:22:23The Governor does, too. The Governor makes his friends at Pew happy.

1:22:23 > 1:22:26Pew gets to control the art.

1:22:26 > 1:22:29Gerry Lenfest, of the Lenfest Foundation,

1:22:29 > 1:22:33is the chairman of the museum. The museum finally, in effect, gets the art.

1:22:33 > 1:22:35It's virtually an appendage.

1:22:35 > 1:22:39And Annenberg people get Walter and Leonore's dream.

1:22:39 > 1:22:44And if it's not the destruction of the Barnes Foundation, what is it?

1:22:50 > 1:22:55Sort of expect there will be an Annenberg and Lenfest in a Pew wing of this new Barnes building.

1:22:55 > 1:22:58At some point, Barnes will somehow be...

1:22:58 > 1:23:02I guess you'll probably get a sweatshirt or something with his name on it.

1:23:02 > 1:23:04But that will be about it.

1:23:15 > 1:23:18Maybe that's a way of having Philadelphia come back to the forefront

1:23:18 > 1:23:23and be one of the leading cities. It'll be the leader in showing people how to break trusts

1:23:23 > 1:23:25and had to break trusts with the public.

1:23:25 > 1:23:28Maybe that's a good, new role for Philadelphia.

1:23:28 > 1:23:31They could have a... Ring a special liberty bell for it.

1:23:40 > 1:23:44I think not only will Barnes be violated by having it moved,

1:23:44 > 1:23:48he will be violated in the experience he wanted you to have.

1:23:48 > 1:23:52And that's important, because it was his art. It belonged to him.

1:23:52 > 1:23:56He had the right to do with it as he chose.

1:23:56 > 1:24:00And these people, these vandals, stepped in and took it away from him.

1:24:12 > 1:24:14These are not people concerned about the art.

1:24:14 > 1:24:19These are people who are concerned about money and power,

1:24:19 > 1:24:25and who would destroy what is...

1:24:25 > 1:24:28a perfect jewel box...

1:24:30 > 1:24:36..and also a kind of... a living piece of history.

1:24:39 > 1:24:43To walk into the Barnes is to see the art as Barnes,

1:24:43 > 1:24:47for all of his greatness and all of his foibles, had it.

1:24:48 > 1:24:51And it is, in its way...

1:24:53 > 1:24:55..perfection.

1:25:00 > 1:25:03Matisse said it was the only sane place to see art in America.

1:25:05 > 1:25:08I'll wager Matisse against Bernie Watson

1:25:08 > 1:25:11and Rebecca Rimel any day.

1:25:13 > 1:25:15And I bet Dr Barnes would too.

1:25:15 > 1:25:17I think he might say, "Let Matisse speak for me."

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