A Talk With New Barnes Boss Derek Gillman

How would Dr. Barnes have reacted to moving the Barnes Collection? “When he wrote the original indenture with [John] Dewey, it was optimistic and big-pictured and optimistic about American society and making the collection accessible. The Barnes who died prematurely would indeed [rotate in his grave], I’m sure… It’s evident from the indenture that he left that he wanted the limited access, the investment of funds in low-yield government bonds and so on… But that’s not the Barnes that I think we need to go back to, [I prefer] the Barnes who had this wonderful vision for this wonderful collection who was dedicated to improving America.”