The legacy of edwin atlee barber at the philadelphia museum of art

The Legacy of Edwin AtLee Barber at the Philadelphia Museum of Art By: Alexandra L. Schilt Edwin AtLee Barber was an important figure within the confines of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, today known as the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As one of the first directors of the Museum, Barber traveled extensively throughout his career. Because of these travels he acquired and implemented new ideas concerning ceramics for and in the Museum. Barber was significant in the history of the Museum, but he was also paramount and still is today for the study and understanding of the art of ceramics. Because of his contributions, others have followed in his footsteps in the collecting of ceramic art. One of these great collectors was Titus C. Geesey who collected a magnitude of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art and ceramics, later gifted to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Together, Barber and Geesey, assembled an incredible collection of ceramics that make the Philadelphia Museum of Art superior in the field of Pennsylvania Dutch ceramics.