Dr. Albert C. Barnes made his fortune in the pharmaceutical industry. He then became a controversial avant garde collector of what was then modern art in the early 20th century. His collection grew to include almost 200 Renoirs, 90 Cezannes, 65 Matisses, and 44  Picassos, plus numerous others. When Barnes died in 1951, Emily Genauer, art critic for the NY Herald Tribune, wrote, “The American  art world just lost its most bizarre and colorful personality. Behind him he left what is regarded by connoisseurs as the finest privately owned art collection in America…and more ill will than any other single figure in American art.” Barnes housed his remarkable collection in his mansion in Merion, PA. Admission was only by invitation from Barnes. None of his paintings were lent out to museums. Eventually, after his death, limited public access was granted, but The Barnes Foundation soon found itself on the brink of insolvency  and under the control of a small African-American university. What followed was a long, public, and sensational period of litigation over  who had legal custody of the collection and whether it could be moved to a more accessible location. This course tells the amazing  Barnes story – the man, his art, and the huge battle for custody of it.