By Berkshiremuseum – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25541706
The Art Newspaper reported that an anonymous group of donors offered the Berkshire Museum one million dollars with the stipulation that the museum take its art off the auction block for at least a year and try to come up with some other way of fixing its serious financial situation. According to the museum, it has been running at a deficit of about $1.2M for the past decade. Sadly, the museum’s board declined the offer.
There are times when I can see the rationale for selling minor works from a museum collection, especially if those works are never exhibited (in other words, just taking up space). However, it is hard for me to believe that a smaller museum like this one can consider some of the works ‘minor examples’, especially the two Norman Rockwell paintings.
The sale is set for the fall of 2017 … so there isn’t much time to try an correct this.
Source: Berkshire Museum board turns down $1m to pause art sale
Source: Protester to Berkshire Museum: Art is ‘Not For Sale’