Here, some alternatives to tide you over, whether you loved the Barnes for its 69 Cezannes, 181 Renoirs, 46 Picassos, seven Van Goghs and leafy hideaway location - or loved to loathe its quirky restrictions and cranky neighbors.
TO GET YOUR CEZANNE FIX. The obvious substitute is the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with its massive "Large Bathers," the smaller "Group of Bathers" and 13 other Cezanne paintings on display, including landscapes, still lifes and three portraits of his wife, Madame Cezanne.
Subjectwise, that covers most of what you'd get at the Barnes. Alas, there's nothing comparable here in Philly to Cezanne's monumental painting "The Card Players," although there's a smaller one (not even half as big) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Closer to home, we suppose you could drive to Bensalem to see the life-size players in the poker room at Parx.
IF YOU'RE JONESING FOR RENOIR. Again, the art museum comes to your Impressionist rescue with Renoir's "The Large Bathers" (hanging within view of Cezanne's big gals so visitors can compare and contrast) plus 14 other Renoir paintings on display.
Jennifer Thompson, a curator of European painting for the art museum, noted that the girl in the museum's "Girl Tatting" painting is even wearing the same shirt as a model in one of the Barnes Renoirs. "It's this shimmering silk blouse with wheel-like patterns."
In the same vein, if you're pining for Van Gogh's famous portrait "The Postman" while the Barnes is closed, the art museum has a neat consolation prize: two portraits of postman Joseph Roulin's family. "You can go see his wife and the two children," Thompson noted.
The Barnes "Postman" is on virtual display in the foundation's online e-Museum (emuseum. barnesfoundation.org), which is undergoing an upgrade and expansion to help bridge patrons over the 10-month gap.
