Art News

The Famous Barnes Art Collection Nears Final Days at Old Home

artwork: In 2011, The Barnes Foundation will move its celebrated art collection from its current location in Merion, Montgomery County to grand new digs on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City. The more than 3,000-piece collection focuses on fine French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, American and African art and sculpture. - Credit: Photo Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation - Rendering of new Barnes Foundation building.


PHILADELPHIA, PA.- After nearly a decade of lawsuits and bitter debate, the world famous Barnes art collection is about to move from its original wooded, suburban setting outside Philadelphia to a bustling boulevard in the city’s cultural district. Workmen are still busy constructing the Barnes’ new, modern building in an area of Philadelphia known as Center City that is home to government offices, shops, museums and open-air spaces modeled after the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Once it debuts in spring 2012, the new home is expected to cost $150 million, including expenses to move the collection.