The Art of the Steal

The Art of the Steal examines the Barnes Foundation art collection and its controversial relocation to Philadelphia. Dr Albert C. Barnes intended for the art to remain in Pennsylvania and to function primarily as an art school. However, opponents of his wishes spent decades attempting to move the Foundation to Philadelphia in order to turn it into a tourist attraction, despite the restrictions laid out in Dr Barnes’s will.

The collection contains approximately 9,000 works of art, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries. Philadelphia elites repeatedly sought control of the collection. To circumvent Barnes’s restrictions, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania arranged $100 million in taxpayer funding after a new board assumed control of the Foundation. The film presents perspectives from both sides of the controversy, including those of journalists and art historians.