All Those Expectations

I want to reflect on something that happened this week that has me completely baffled.

Having heard nothing but positive things about the Barnes Foundation since I moved to Philadelphia, I was ecstatic when I learned that a work-related trip to the museum was being planned, and that we would be visiting the Barnes before it moves just a stones throw away from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Franklin Institute on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

I was disappointed.

Before I complain, here are a couple of possible justifications for my displeasure.

1. I spent just over an hour in the museum. You simply cannot absorb the Barnes in that amount of time. I will make another trip to see the collection as soon as possible and will then reassess the my feelings about the museum.

2. My visit to the museum was with a large group of people. I am the kind of person who prefers to experience museums, particularly art museums, on my own or with very small groups. Its possible that the format of this trip predisposed me to disappointment.

3. The Barnes probably could not have ever lived up to the expectations I had for it. Because of all the things I had heard about the collection, I expected it to be life-changing, perhaps even earth-shattering. It wasn't.

All of that being said, here are my thoughts about the Barnes:

1. The guide my group had was amazing. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of the collection, the artists and the paintings. Because the Barnes has no interpretive signs, she gave the collection a context it might have otherwise lacked. Part of the problem with this, however, is that Dr. Barnes allegedly arranged his collection in such a way as to make interpretive signs and guides unnecessary.

2. Dr. Barnes' much-vaunted and celebrated method of arranging his collection of paintings and sculptures failed to move me. I found the ironwork on the walls distracting rather than helpful; I honestly would have rather had an interpretive sign. I do not get enjoyment out of a painting because I see that lines in the painting are echoed in the candlesticks placed strategically on a table in front of the painting. I enjoy great paintings because they are sometimes so beautiful, so breathtaking that it brings tears to my eyes.

3. A visit to the Barnes is hampered at this point by its impending move to the BF Parkway. Because I work for the PMA I won't even get into all of this, but it is supremely irritating that some galleries are closed and that one cannot visit without having to think about the upcoming move. (Go watch The Art of the Steal if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

What is my final assessment? Go see the Barnes. The collection is truly amazing. I would, however, caution you to be realistic in your expectations for the collection, the building and the museum's method of interpretation. Go see the paintings because they are masterpieces, not because they are hung in some supposedly revolutionary way. Go see the paintings because each one really could change your life.