Should Artifacts be Sold?

In the article “The Permanent Collection May Not Be So Permanent” by Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times, discusses the question of de-accessioning of collections by a museum. The method of de-accessioning collections has been questioned especially in today’s economy as museums struggle to pay bills and operating costs. Not only is this practice frowned upon by institutions, but a practice forbidden by the professional association for art museum directors. Basically, what has happened is that smaller museums that need to pay bills are forced to sell various works in order to pay bills. Some larger institutions like the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago also participate in the selling of their collections to upgrade their museums and services.

The selling of works by museums is a controversial and forbidden practice however the director of the Cleveland Museum, David Franklin argues that reviewing collections is a good thing. Franklin believes that collections should be constantly refined and upgraded to give the museums audience the best possible experience. One big reason why museums who sell works are frowned upon is because the openness regarding the works sold. The Indianapolis Museum of Art’s website shows every object sold, why it is offered, the ultimate sale price and a network to link newly acquired artworks to the objects sold. This helps to show the museums audience and board what the funds were spent on after selling the work and gives credibility to the practice of de-accessioning. In another example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is required to list total cash proceeds from the works which they sell. Also the Met must inform the public of the selling of the piece prior to being sold.

The article also mentions that some museums will trade certain works for another work and this is also considered part of the de-accessioning process. The Met is another example of this, in which they traded a work by Pat Steir for another work by Pat Steir which was considered a better piece. This has met some stiff protest from museums like the Guggenheim who claim that trading up for works is not the primary focus of museums, which causes them to think of their collections as a log-rolling exercise.

Although these institutions have met resistance in de-accessioning policies, many museums respect ethical practices in selling the works. For example, the Museum of Modern Art obeys the stipulations of donors and former artists by not selling their works unless the artist has died. Similarly, some donors will want the museum to sell their art works to acquire higher priced works, which is exactly what happened to the Museum of Modern Art. As a result, the museum was able to sell lower grade works and acquire works by Van Gogh and Picasso.