An Afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

ML/NJ

[ml/nj]

There is a great documentary called The Art of the Steal

I might try to view it sometime. I did get a kick out of the line in the trailer about Barnes going for quality over quantity.

Some years ago I was visiting the Clark Insitute in Williamstown, Mass. (Wow! In getting that link I see that all or nearly all of their Renoirs, and other stuff too, are out on loan for a three year tour. To experience the greatness of this collection, one really must wait now until 2014.) and I had a question about one of the paintings. So I found some docent guy who was just finishing a lecture and asked him. He must have really liked my question as he asked how long I would be at the museum, and finding out that he would have sufficient time he thought, he said he would go research it in their pretty extensive library and come out and find me. He found me but not the answer to my question but we talked for quite some time anyway. I don't know whether I said it or he did but I've long felt that the Clarke has the best of the collections of those formerly based upon a private collection. (I'm leaving out the NGA here which Mellon was initially largely responsible for.) Frick, Norton Simon, Getty, and Barnes are ones that I've visited that come to mind. Anyway I remember my researcher friend putting down Barnes as a competing collector who basically bought up all the stuff the Clarkes didn't want. And thinking about the collections I had to agree with him. Barnes has many more Renoirs for example, but all are largely inferior to all that Clarke has, IMHO anyway. (But of course, I'd take the worst of the ones the Barnes has for my living room!)

ML/NJ

[SunkenCiv]

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Thanks ml/nj. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.