Entertaining ... Gopnik ably illustrates the story of Barnes’s rise and his collecting, spiriting the reader along as Barnes flits from passion to passion, feud to feud. But though Mr. Gopnik does his best to present Barnes as a visionary collector with a novel conception of art, we leave the book unsure exactly of Barnes’s views, despite the collector having spilled pages of ink attempting to elucidate his theory.
Gopnik boasts advantages over previous Barnes biographers, including his critical acumen and the Barnes Foundation’s willingness to permit what the book’s publicity materials tout as 'unprecedented access' to its archives ... The emphasis on Barnes’s pugilism gives Gopnik’s narrative a pronounced focus ... Measured .... His principal concern, though, seems to be rehabilitating his subject’s reputation.
