Recommended Documentary: The Art of the Steal

The Art of the Steal is an amazing documentary that every artist, student of art or art history needs to watch.  It's stunning, shocking and a piece of American history that not many people know about.  It was riveting - I was glued to the screen throughout the entire film and couldn't believe what a saga unfolded before me.

Don Argott’s gripping documentary The Art of the Steal chronicles the long and dramatic struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of art valued at more than $25 billion. In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes formed a remarkable educational institution around his priceless collection of art, located just five miles outside of Philadelphia. Now, more than 50 years after Barnes’ death, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court for control of the art, and intend to bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of Barnes’ former students and his will, which contains strict instructions stating the Foundation should always be an educational institution, and that the paintings may never be removed. Will they succeed, or will a man’s will be broken and one of America’s greatest cultural monuments be destroyed? [more...]