The Art of Display: Exploring the Barnes Ensembles
New! Self-Paced Classes
$100; members $90
About the Class
Introducing our new on-demand classes.
The galleries at the Barnes are unlike anywhere else in the world. Paintings aren’t arranged chronologically or by movement: they’re carefully curated into “ensembles.” These unique groupings—designed by Dr. Albert C. Barnes himself—mix fine art with furniture, ironwork, and everyday objects, creating surprising dialogues between works. This display encourages viewers to make connections, like how the shape of a door hinge mirrors the curve of a reclining nude or the way a Windsor chair's spindles echo the trees in a landscape painting.
Dr. Barnes created these ensembles as part of his radical approach to learning how to see, which we call the Barnes Method. In this on-demand class, we invite you to explore this method for yourself.
This interactive online course is a step-by-step introduction to Dr. Barnes’s ensembles that you can complete at your own pace. Through three engaging modules, you’ll discover:
- How and why Dr. Barnes created these innovative arrangements.
- Techniques for decoding ensembles and uncovering hidden relationships between objects.
- How to apply this way of seeing to museums everywhere—and even to your daily life.
About the Experience
- Self-Paced Learning: Watch anytime, anywhere, on any device. Revisit lessons at your own pace.
- Short, Impactful Videos: Each module includes four video sessions ranging from 10 to 15 minutes. The total course time is two hours.
- Immersive Visual Exploration: The Barnes’s state-of-the-art Visual Experience Platform (VXP) allows you to zoom in on exquisite details.
- Interactive Lessons: Engage with the ensembles like never before. You’ll be prompted to pause videos and dive deeper into individual artworks, practicing the Barnes Method as you go.
Watch this brief introduction to the course and read more below.
Modules
Module 1
Small Ensembles (4 videos, 40 minutes total)
Start by familiarizing yourself with Dr. Barnes’s ensembles while considering works by Pascin and Matisse.
Module 2
Medium Ensembles (4 videos, 44 minutes total)
Consider the relationship between decorative objects—furniture, metalwork, and ceramics—and paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and El Greco.
Module 3
Large Ensembles (4 videos, 47 minutes total)
Explore large groupings of objects, including works by Delacroix, Daumier, and Rousseau.
Instructors
Kaelin Jewell
Jewell is a senior instructor in adult education at the Barnes and has been teaching art history for nearly 15 years. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in photography and art history from the University of Louisville’s Hite Institute of Art and Design and earned her PhD in ancient and medieval art history from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. In addition to her work at the Barnes, Jewell is trained as an archaeologist and has worked on archaeological projects in the American Midwest and on the island of Sicily.
William Perthes
Perthes is the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes. He has taught courses at the Barnes as well as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and West Chester and Villanova Universities. His scholarship focuses on American modernism and the abstract expressionist painter Robert Motherwell.
Barnes Method
Barnes Method courses follow the teachings of Albert Barnes and Violette de Mazia. Classes focus on rigorous formal analysis and direct visual engagement with works of art. In this method, close looking at art helps build critical-thinking skills that can be carried beyond the gallery walls.
Go Further
Close-Looking Immersion: Van Goyen’s The Square Watch-Tower
Our 90-minute immersions provide opportunities to study and discuss individual works. Instructor: William Perthes
Heaven on Earth: The Art of the Byzantine Empire
Dive into the visual culture of the Byzantine Empire, which was influenced by nearly a millennium of religious, social, and political upheaval. Instructor: Kaelin Jewell
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Aesthetics of Everyday Life
This course uses the decorative arts collection at the Barnes as a jumping-off point to explore the artistic qualities of common objects. Instructors: Katherine Feldkamp, William Perthes