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Written by Mr. Paul Philippe Cret. November 29, 1922.
THE BUILDING FOR THE BARNES FOUNDATION
In planning the gallery that will receive the Barnes collection, the first care has been to secure those conditions that the painter could wish for the display of his work. This means to avoid crowding too many paintings in a single room, and to place those paintings in a light similar to that in which they were painted. Thence two rules: Small rooms and studio lighting, instead of the usual toplit gallery.
The gallery with top light is open to several criticisms; A museum made up of such rooms is gloomy. The visitor, jailed between walls, longs very soon for a glimpse of outdoors. The paintings themselves, under the cold light filtered through various diffusing sashes, seem to be drowned in an aquarium. Painted in a studio or outdoors, they ought to receive the same quality of light to be fully appreciated.
It is desirable, also, that each group of canvases be made of works not conflicting with one another, and therefore to have each wall in a room o limited area to facilitate hanging on a panel only those paintings that harmonize.
The principle of planning is, then, to have rooms of moderate size, varying in dimension to avoid monotony (29x23, 21x17 or 17x15). The ceiling is vaulted to help the diffusion, and the window is placed high up. No useless corridor, but a simple circulation through the rooms, dividing each floor in two circuit, starting from and leading to a central hall.
This hall, on the first floor, is a large room, of fine proportion, with huge windows and a balcony overlooking the garden. Besides its display, it will be used as a rest room, with furniture, sculpture and are objects and as a music room. Throughout, no decoration, the paintings composing the collection being of the modern school. which strives for simplicity of expression.
Bearing this in mind, it was found possible in this building to provide an amount of hanging space surprisingly large, when compared to other museums where the old type of planning prevails.
The construction will be fireproof and simple in scheme. The exterior walls and a single central bearing wall support the floors in two spans, reducing the supports to the minimum.
The house, which adjoins the gallery, will in the future be incorporated with the gallery as exhibition rooms, and a considerable increase of hanging space is assured.
The building will therefore be architecturally of an entirely new type, fulfilling the needs of painting exhibitions in a novel manner, yet simply and economically constructed and practical in plan.
The exterior will be built of French stone of beautiful texture, and will depend for its appearance on the carefully studied proportion of its elements and combination of materials.