I don't know much about art, but I do recognise an eccentric! Wealthy art-lover with a hatred of elitism, Dr Barnes created one of the world's greatest collections almost as a snub to the middle classes he despised. Champion of the underclass, democrat and egalitarian, Barnes was also tyrannical, splenetic, volatile and cruel. True friend to a few, neighbour from hell with a poison-pen to everyone else. A complex man worthy of this excellent biography.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 17 February 2003 ) |
