Art & Society

» Mary Rayme - Gross Clinic - Time to Revise the "Final Tally"?

In response to Gross Clinic - Time to Revise the "Final Tally"? posted by e_g_c_2:
Excellent points, all. I do think the ego of all blue-blood, main line, old money Philadelphians was challenged by "WalMart" trying to quietly buy their masterpiece. And they have indeed paid the Tiffany price for their own heritage.

While the term deaccessioning may sound brutal it could also be viewed as culling a collection. Not every painting, work of art or cultural object is of the same quality or significance as another and it is the job of a good curator to "maintain a collection" which also means conservative deaccessioning to improve the collection. Deaccessioning should always be conservative so that the themes and goals of a museum are not mercurial.

Deaccessioning to sell works to raise money to buy other works is usually done to purchase works deemed more appropriate to the collection. For PAFA to sell an Eakins (presumably a lesser work) for a better quality Eakins seems silly and in poor taste. Philly seems like it is floundering to be taken seriously while creating a vaudeville spectacle.

This is not the last we have heard from Ann Walton's art-buying binge. I imagine this same scenario of cultural carpetbagging will continue and can occur anywhere in the United States.

And...fungible is my new favorite word. It is a good one and apparently has nothing to do with mushrooms. ;-)