$50m US deaccession

August 7 2017

Image of $50m US deaccession

Picture: Sotheby's

There's a hoo-ha in the USA over the deaccessioning of $50m worth of paintings, from Old Master to contemporary art (including the above Frederic Edwin Church), by the Berkshire Museum. The sales are needed, says the museum, to complete a $20m renovation programme and to increase its endowment. US museum bodies have sanctioned the museum, and said that deacessions must only take place in order to raise money to buy more art. But as long as the money is put to good use for the long-term future of the museum, and not just to keep the wolf from the door, is there much difference? 

The sale will be handled by Sotheby's in New York.

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