Thin end of the wedge
July 12 2011
Here's a bonkers de-accessioning story from the US, of the type that make people fear de-accessioning here in the UK:
The Port Huron Museum is asking the city council permission to sell four paintings by 19th-century French artists to raise money for operating costs.
Susan Bennett, the museum's director of administration and community relations, said the paintings range in value from about $4,000 to up to $50,000.
The paintings are "Peasant Girl Herding Ducks" by Jean Francois Millet; "Tree Trunks of a Forest" by Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet; "Landscape with Water" by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot; and "Woodland Scene" by Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña.
Of course, it's always wrong to flog a collection to pay for operating costs. But what I want to know is, where can I buy these ridiculously cheap pictures?
