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ALBERT C. BARNES
MERION, PA.

June 20, 1946

Mr. Robert Carlen
Carlen Galleries
323 S. 16th Street
Philadelphia 2, Pa.

Dear Mr. Carlen:

A former student of the Barnes Foundation sent me a copy of the June 1946 number of The Crisis, with comments upon an article entitled "Modern Primitive: Horace Pippin" by Joseph W. Woods. The comments are so strongly supported by verifiable facts, which you yourself know, that a spirit of fairness prompts me to impart them to you.

An uninformed reader would glean from Mr. Woods' article that the late Dr. Christian Brinton was responsible for making Pippin's work known to the public. The fact is that Brinton arranged an exhibition, not confined to Pippin's work, but of some local artists, among whom Pippin was represented. Nothing in the records shows that Pippin was recognized as an outstanding artist as a result of the West Chester show.

On page 189 of The Crisis appears a statement, "His [Pipppin's] first large exhibition was at the Carlen Galleries in 1940." Mr. Woods' article fails to mention the fact that, at your request, I wrote the catalogue for that exhibition, and everybody knows that it was the first time that the characteristics of Pippin's work were published. It is known also that I bought one of those pictures for the Barnes Foundation gallery, and also induced my friend, Charles Laughton, to purchase one. It was these facts -- my essay about his works and the newspaper announcement of the purchases by myself and Mr. Laughton -- that first brought Pippin's work to the serious attention of the public. It is also a matter of record that at Pippin's second exhibition at your place, in March 1941, you again asked me to write the catalogue, which I did, and in which I called attention to Pippin's growth as an artist, probably as a result of his having studied for a year at the Barnes Foundation.

The complaints of the person who called my attention to The Crisis article are that Mr. Woods' article amounts to misinformation of the public concerning essential factors of Pippin's recognition as an artist; that Mr. Woods' account of your function as Pippin's agent for the sale of his pictures shows that you were obviously in a position to give Mr. Woods the information above noted; that you should have done so; and that, if you did so, Mr. Woods should have stated it in his article.

Yours very truly,

Albert Barnes

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