Barnes gallery rejects offer

More news from the controversy-mired Barnes Foundation: Officials of the suburban Philadelphia institution, which holds a world-class trove of Cezannes, Picassos, Renoirs and Van Goghs, last week rejected a $50-million offer to keep the gallery in Lower Merion Township, saying it came far too late to be taken seriously.

Montgomery County officials who made the offer say they will take the Barnes to court in a final effort to prevent the move.

The Barnes’ rejection “shows that they’re hellbent on moving and they are much more interested in ingratiating themselves with the power players and the arbiters of culture in Philadelphia than in following the dictates of the trust,” said Mark D. Schwartz, a lawyer for the Montgomery County commissioners.

The Barnes won court permission in 2004 to deviate from the trust of its late founder, Dr. Albert Barnes, who had instructed that his paintings were to “remain in exactly the places they are” after his death. His collection has been housed in the 23-room gallery in Lower Merion since 1925.