This just in: The Friends of the Barnes Foundation have gone back to court, filing a petition today in Montgomery County Orphans’ Court seeking to “re-open proceedings on the matter of the Barnes Foundation and its change in governance and the plan to transfer its art collection to Philadelphia from its historic, 12-acre arboretum setting in Lower Merion Township.”
The petition was filed by Attorney Samuel C. Stretton, who appeared at the Friends’ rally early this year and said he would lead them back to court.
According to the press release:
The petition cites newly available indications of misconduct on the part of then-Attorney General Michael Fisher as revealed in the documentary “The Art of the Steal” by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce. The statements by former Attorney General Fisher in the film reveal his active involvement with Lincoln University’s decision to drop their legal opposition to the Barnes Foundation’s petition seeking expansion of its Board and permission to transfer Albert C. Barnes’ art collection from Lower Merion to Philadelphia. Mr. Stretton maintains that then-Attorney General Fisher’s actions neutralized his role as parens patriae for the Barnes Foundation, a charitable entity.
The 29-page petition is here.