It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Tell that to today’s museum curators, who insist of covering gallery walls with words, identifying the picture, who painted it and when, and of course who donated it. At the very least. There are also entire chunks of text making sure that we understand why this art is important. The result is that museum goers are caught up in reading, or listening if they have rented an audio guide, anything but looking. What a shame. I am with Albert C. Barnes, who insisted that his collection not have any identifying labels. Nothing but the art itself. The curators at the Barnes Foundation are legally constrained from adding text to the wall—in any case, there is no room—so they have helpfully created an app, Barnes Focus. Now people can stare at their phones instead of looking at the paintings.
Photo: Gallery in Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.
