You are running out of time to see the Barnes Foundation the way it was meant to be seen. In a controversial move, the Foundation is moving its art collection from Mr. Barnes’ manor fifteen minutes from downtown Philadelphia to a new custom-built museum on Benjamin Franklin Parkway within Ryan Howard home run distance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Visiting the Barnes feels like a secret, which I guess it is. You need to make an advance reservation, park somewhere down the street, for the street is too narrow, too tree-lined, and too exclusive for parking. After walking up the hill to the guardhouse, they confirm your appointment (to keep away those renegade connoisseurs) before entering the museum. There are no photographs permitted, even of the outside (seriously). It feels like being invited to Mr. Boddy’s mansion in the movie Clue. Continue reading
