Peter Hay Halpert & Blake Gopnik @ The Vail Symposium, 27 Jan 2026. Photo by Raymond Bleesz.
VAIL SYMPOSIUM – BARNES ON YOUTUBE
A month ago Blake Gopnik and I got together to talk about Albert Barnes and his legendary art collection in Philadelphia. Blake’s book, THE MAVERICK’S MUSEUM: ALBERT BARNES AND HIS AMERICAN DREAM, was nominated for the Marfield Prize for the best art book of 2025 just a few days before we sat down in front of a sold-out audience for our Vail Symposium program.
Over the past couple of years Blake and I have worked together on several programs in New York, first on Andy Warhol, occasioned by his landmark biography of the artist, and most recently, on Barnes.
I know Barnes’ art collection very well, having been able to visit the Foundation regularly when it was located out on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Since it relocated in 2012 to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City Philadelphia, steps away from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin Museum, and the new Calder Gardens, I’ve visited annually. Blake has visited the Barnes Foundation on numerous occasions, as well. In addition, he spent countless hours researching the Barnes archives. This led to lively conversations about the man and his art collection; Blake and I don’t always agree (Blake is willing to give Barnes more credit for all the Renoirs he amassed – 181! – than I am). But as Blake commented to me: “I think the audience had a good time, because you and I did!”
For those who weren’t able to attend in person or online at the time, the Vail Symposium has now put the program up on YouTube. I hope you’ll enjoy it, and look forward to hearing your comments.
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