American Museums Poised to Sell $100m of Art
October 6 2020
Picture: Baltimore Museum of Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnet.com has published an article highlighting that a selection of American Museums are poised to sell $100m of Art this season at auction. The aforementioned changes to rules from the Association of Museum Directors in the wake of the COVID crisis is clearly playing a part in the sell-off strategies.
The most recent American museum to announce that it is selling items from its collections is the Baltimore Museum of Art. Amongst the three works that will be consigned is Andy Warhol's The Last Supper (pictured), a rip-off of Leonardo's iconic fresco, of course. The museum hope to raise $65m from the sales which include siphoning off money for a broad "equity initiative".
The Washington Post ran an article on the Baltimore Museum's announcement giving quotes from their director:
BMA Director Christopher Bedford, who believes Warhol would have given the sale his “hearty blessings,” has said the museum is in good financial shape. The underlying motive for the sale, Bedford said Friday, was to address systemic racism and injustice that “should have been addressed with determination centuries ago.” Those factors, he added, provide “more than enough justification” for the museum to sell the works.
“The moral imperative,” he said, “prevails over all.”
Curiously, it appears that it is mostly twentieth century art that is being consigned for sale thus far. To this date only the Brooklyn Museum have committed old master paintings to the saleroom.
