What this movie is really about

A man's vision of how he wants his life's work continued after his death is ignored because of the whims of powerful, greedy, unscrupulous people. That is what this movie is about. That it involves priceless works of art and how it is used for education is secondary. At the end of the day, we all leave little else behind but how we affected and continue to affect the world. How we choose to use whatever resources (finanical, intellectual and otherwise) we have during and after our lives is no one's business but ours (unless, of course, we use said resources to commit crimes). Mr. Barnes had more of a positive effect on society than most will be able to claim when their time comes. His wishes for how he wanted the resources (which he amassed over a lifetime of hard work and ingenuity) he left behind to be used were clear and would have furthered his vision for what his impact on the world would be. Whether people agreed with how he was using his resources or not, it was not anyone's place to violate his wishes. Such is the sad state of the world though. As Rogert Ebert put it:

"It doesn't matter a damn what your will says if you have $25 billion, and politicians and the establishment want it."

Regardless of our opinions of what should have been done with the art, the fact that how we want to use what we leave behind can be so easily ignored should offend all of us.