Update on The Barnes Museum

Years before the current controversy over the proposed move of the Barnes Foundation to the parkway in Philadelphia, Walter Annenberg had great animosity towards Albert Barnes. Both were avid art collectors and one wonders if Walter was jealous of Barnes'now two to three billion dollar collection?
The Annenberg Foundation is one of the co-conspirators in paying for the move. Ironically, they are known for their largess in contributing to the preservation of art and education and medicine in the multi millions. Now under the auspices of Mrs. Annenberg, this destruction of one of the greatest art and cultural institutions will be the biggest blot on her legacy.

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When the Gerard Trust Will was broken decades ago it exposed the breakdown of the idea that any will [ yours/mine ] is no longer safe. How
confident can we be that our wishes will be honored after our deaths. Dr Barnes wishes are being trashed. He had the insight to select these master's works for us to see here in the U S rather than travel to Europe at great expense. He deserves our dedicated respect not insults.
As a professional painter and instructor many of my student's can access this collection with out the added expense and stress of going into Philadelphia. It's hard enough to get some of them to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with it's on site parking. There is fear of harm, traffic, parking and worse be it real or media generated. Many are accomplished artists that need to see original work to advance their training.
Many serious art students and lovers from overseas often come to the Barnes first on their tours of U S Museums even before the Metropolitan,
Modern, Whitney, Guggenheim, and Frick in NYC. or the many major collections in Wash.DC. and Boston.
Except for the Barnes, Brandywine, Delaware, Mitchner, and Woodmere museums... most Fine Art, Archeological, Natural, Library and Scientific collections are concentrated in center city. In the very possible event that terrorist attacks of a Nuclear or Biological nature were unleashed in the city then access to yet one more source of art scholarship would be compromised perhaps for many decades if not destroyed for all time. I'm opposed to the move more on those grounds than even the legal ones.
As long as we are at War With Terror from extremists then waiting will only help to reduce security risks. Terrorist planners have discussed the strategy of detonating nuclear devices in seven major U S cities on the same day. Can you say Philadelphia is not on that list with all it's historic properties, symbolism, port, industry, institutions, refineries, and of coarse population ? Supposedly cells in this country have as many as 26 nuclear bombs...the Barnes Museum is one of the strongest structures in the region and out of reach of the core blast area of the most likely types of atomic weapons terrorists would use. This is a very patient enemy that will lull us into complacency then do what they will when all seems calm. I hope we never see that day but I'd rather not gamble with the Barnes masterpieces.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and others have great numbers of works that have been waiting for conservation for decades. Why take on the custodial responsibilities of some of the most valuable art in the U S when what the city already has can't be cared for now. It's unethical if not immoral and dangerous to to move this collection. Thank you.

When the Gerard Trust Will was broken decades ago it exposed the breakdown of the idea that any will [ yours/mine ] is no longer safe. How
confident can we be that our wishes will be honored after our deaths. Dr Barnes wishes are being trashed. He had the insight to select these master's works for us to see here in the U S rather than travel to Europe at great expense. He deserves our dedicated respect not insults.
As a professional painter and instructor many of my student's can access this collection with out the added expense and stress of going into Philadelphia. It's hard enough to get some of them to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with it's on site parking. There is fear of harm, traffic, parking and worse be it real or media generated. Many are accomplished artists that need to see original work to advance their training.
Many serious art students and lovers from overseas often come to the Barnes first on their tours of U S Museums even before the Metropolitan, Modern, Whitney, Guggenheim, and Frick in NYC. or the many major collections in Wash.DC. and Boston.
Except for the Barnes, Brandywine, Delaware, Mitchner, and Woodmere museums... most Fine Art, Archeological, Natural, Library and Scientific collections are concentrated in center city. In the very possible event that terrorist attacks of a Nuclear or Biological nature were unleashed in the city then access to yet one more source of art scholarship would be compromised perhaps for many decades if not destroyed for all time. I'm opposed to the move more on those grounds than even the legal ones.
As long as we are at War With Terror from extremists then waiting will only help to reduce security risks. Terrorist planners have discussed the strategy of detonating nuclear devices in seven major U S cities on the same day. Can you say Philadelphia is not on that list with all it's historic properties, symbolism, port, industry, institutions, refineries, and of coarse population ? Supposedly cells in this country have as many as 26 nuclear bombs...the Barnes Museum is one of the strongest structures in the region and out of reach of the core blast area of the most likely types of atomic weapons terrorists would use. This is a very patient enemy that will lull us into complacency then do what they will when all seems calm. I hope we never see that day but I'd rather not gamble with the Barnes masterpieces. They do not belong to the City of Philadelphia anyway.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and others have great numbers of works that have been waiting for conservation for decades. Why take on the custodial responsibilities of some of the most valuable art in the U S when what the city already has can't be cared for now. It's unethical if not immoral and dangerous to to move this collection. Thank you.