An Archive of Hundreds of Letters, Pamphlets and Other Material, Spanning Decades, from Civil Rights Leader and Museum Founder Albert Barnes, Never Before Offered for Sale

The archive documents important moments in both these efforts

 

Included is a sub-archive of letters of Mrs. Barnes

Albert C. Barnes was an American chemist, businessman, art collector, writer, educator, and the founder of the Barnes Foundation. Barnes made a fortune as the developer of the antiseptic Argyrol, and subsequently amassed an impressive collection of more than 2,000 pieces of rare art. His extensive holdings include many European and American impressionist masterpieces and early modern art, including works by Cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Picasso. His collection of 181 Renoir paintings continues to be the largest number of the artist’s paintings gathered in one location.

Barnes started the Barnes Foundation in 1922 as an educational institution, with strict limits to its use and very specific rules about its operations. Barnes was known for his ambition and his artistic sensibility, as well as his eccentricity.

At the Foundation, he insisted that the art be displayed in a unique way, exhibiting the works by their formal and expressive similarities rather than using the traditional method of grouping items by the date they were created, the place of origin, the type of item, or its medium.

Barnes was an early advocate for educational opportunities for African Americans. As the Barnes Foundation writes, “Committed to racial equality and social justice, Albert C. Barnes believed that education was the cornerstone of a truly democratic society. At his West Philadelphia factory, where many of his employees were African American, Dr. Barnes structured the workday to include seminars on art and philosophy. In 1927, he established a scholarship program to support young Black artists, writers, and musicians who wanted to further their education. The beneficiaries included poet and essayist Gwendolyn Bennett; artist and professor Aaron Douglas; violinist David Auld for study at the Juilliard School in New York; and composer Frederick Work for training in Europe.”

Henry Hart first met Dr. Barnes in the early 1920s while Hart was employed as a journalist for the Philadelphia Record. The two developed a close friendship, and maintained a personal relationship until Dr. Barnes’s unexpected death. Henry Hart transitioned from journalism and became an editor at Scribner, where he published “The Art of Henri-Matisse.” The book was released on January 13, 1933.

The archive

The 1920s: educational opportunities for African Americans, early Barnes Foundation history. Approximately 50 letters letters, typed documents, as well as some copies, relating to early incidents and issues around the founding of the Foundation. Among them are letters of Barnes to Hart touching on his efforts to bring educational opportunities to African Americans.

1930s-1940s. A combination of hundreds of ALSs (these are surely unpublished), TLSs (comprising the majority), and carbon copies, some typed. Topics include: Galleries in Europe, Education, his book proposed book Adventures of a Young Man, publications he has read, literary and artistic figures such as Hemingway, Matisse, contemporary painting and painters, the Philadelphia social and educational scene, Barnes’ travels around the world and to visit exhibitions, and printed by-laws of the Barnes Foundation

An archive from Mrs. Barnes

1960s: Approx. 40 letters from the widow Mrs. Laura Barnes, touching on the state of the Foundation, a book she hoped to write, the gardens, her deceased husband. Included are letters from her doctor on her declining health.

Pamphlets:

Some formal printed mateiral includes: Sabotage of Public Education: – with a note of Barnes; The Progressive Decay of the PA Museum of Art; The Case of Bertrand Russell vs Democracy and Education.

Barnes’ copies of “Les Arts a Paris, Actualites Critiques des Arts et de la Curiosite, Paul Guillaume”, 1923-1929, with 2 inscriptions by Guillaume, one to Mrs. Barnes and another to Mr. Barnes.

“A Plan for Negro Education,” by Paul Hogans

The first 3 copies of the “Journal of the Barnes Foundation,” Volume 1, Nos 1-3, “An experiment in education”

An exceptional archive of relevance to both art and civil rights.