The Art of the Steal is an all-American story. A chronicle of the Barnes Foundation--the collection of post-Impressionist art in Merion, Pennsylvania--the film captures many of our nation's themes:
The iconoclast who thumbs his nose at the establishment.
The self-made man who doesn't forget his roots.
The neighbors who band together to defend their territory.
The city that robs its suburbs.
The power families who run everything.
The politicians who sleep with the elite.
The whiff of conspiracy that accompanies money.
The issue of race that haunts the landscape.
The rich and powerful who always succeed.
It's too bad that the Barnes Foundation can't stay where it is. Soon to be housed along museum row in Philadelphia, it will lose the character that Dr. Barnes intended to preserve. His American story--a visionary who saw and collected art for ordinary citizens to enjoy--collided with that other American story--the one where opportunists exploit vulnerability for power and wealth.
Go see the Barnes collection before it moves. Participate in the story that Dr. Barnes told, however quirky and unconventional you might find it.
You'll be glad you did.
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