X
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 41 m
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 41 m

Summary In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes created The Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion Pennsylvania, five miles outside of Philadelphia. He formed this remarkable collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art to serve as an educational institution. Dr. Barnes built his Foundation away from the city and cultural elite who scorned his collect...

Directed By: Don Argott

  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 41 m
  • 2010
  • Unrated
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 41 m

The Art of the Steal

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
75
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.9
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes created The Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion Pennsylvania, five miles outside of Philadelphia. He formed this remarkable collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art to serve as an educational institution. Dr. Barnes built his Foundation away from the city and cultural elite who scorned his collect...

Directed By: Don Argott

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
75
95% Positive
18 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 19 Critic Reviews
75
95% Positive
18 Reviews
5% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
88
What is finally clear: It doesn't matter a damn what your will says if you have $25 billion, and politicians and the establishment want it.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
83
It's memorable when it meditates on the changing face of where we look at art, and how that changes the art itself.
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
80
Calculated to enrage and pulling it off like gangbusters, Don Argott’s documentary The Art of the Steal pits the legacy of the late Albert C. Barnes’s Barnes Foundation (which boasts arguably the world’s finest collection of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art) against the social-climbing, philistine, downright Nixonian machinations of Philadelphia’s wealthiest--who gamed the system and pried the collection loose in defiance of Barnes’s legal will.
By David Edelstein FULL REVIEW
80
The Art of the Steal's thorough research, bolstered by many fiery talking heads, makes it one of the most successful advocacy docs in recent years and may prompt some firsthand investigating of your own.
By Melissa Anderson FULL REVIEW
75
A damning example of justice bending toward those who can most afford to buy it.
By Scott Tobias FULL REVIEW
63
While the rich people who violated a dead antagonist's wishes seem sleazy (especially when they refuse to be interviewed), transporting world-class artwork five miles to a bigger facility where more people can enjoy it hardly seems like the end of civilization as we know it.
By Joe Williams FULL REVIEW
60
Argott treats Barnes' story as an intellectual crime thriller, uncovering each new surprise -- and a seemingly endless parade of villains -- with a deadpan flourish.
By Elizabeth Weitzman FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.9
86% Positive
6 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.9
86% Positive
6 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company 9.14 Pictures, Maj Productions
Release Date Feb 26, 2010
Duration 1 h 41 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Tagline The true story of a multi-billion dollar art heist and how they got away with it.
Website http://www.majproductions.com/films/the-art-of-the-steal/
View All Details

Awards

Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Nomination

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