Albert C. Barnes, 1940 (gelatin silver print)

Albert Coombs Barnes (January 2, 1872 – July 24, 1951) was an American physician and chemist, businessman, art collector, writer, and educator, the founder of the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. With a fortune made from the development of the antiseptic drug Argyrol, used to treat gonorrhea; a business to promote it; and the well-timed sale of his company in 1929, in his 30s Barnes began to study and collect art. He acquired his first 20 pieces by commissioning his friend, the artist William Glackens, to buy modern work for him in Paris. After selling his business, he devoted himself to the study and collecting of art.