Art Held Hostage: The Battle over the Barnes Collection

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“Money, pretension, horrid behavior by cultured people” (New York) ―John Anderson’s tale delivers it all in fabulously juicy detail.

This is the story of how a fabled art foundation―the greatest collection of impressionist and postimpressionist art in The usa, including 69 Cézannes, 60 Matisses, and 44 Picassos, among many priceless others―came to be, and how more than a decade of legal squabbling brought it to the brink of collapse and to a move that many imagine betrayed the wishes of the founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872―1951). Art Held Hostage is now up to date with a new epilogue by the Writer covering the current state of this international treasure and the endless battle over its fate. 8 pages of photographs
Art Held Hostage reveals the messy inside story about the most infamous world-class art museum that you’ve probably never heard of. The saga begins with the life and times of Albert C. Barnes, a Philadelphia business magnet who, after making his fortune right through the Depression, becomes one of The usa’s most important collectors of impressionist and post-impressionist art. The collection includes famed paintings by such luminaries as Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir. Barnes became well known for his harsh personality and instigated a problematic invitation-only policy to his museum, located in a Philadelphia suburb. Strangely, even after Barnes’ death the museum continued to grow to be embroiled in financial, legal, and community disputes. The story gets uglier right through the 1990s with a series of lawsuits for the foundation’s high-profile president, including a racial discrimination suit and ultimately near-bankruptcy for the collection. Writer John C. Anderson, a contributing editor of The American Lawyer magazine, spares no cynical detail in his investigation into this in reality American tale of power, litigiousness, and boardroom antics. This can be a book for those interested at nighttime underbelly of the business side of the art world. — J.P. Cohen

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