AnalysisArchives
The deaccessioning debate: 1990-2020
The disposal of objects from museum collections has been a source of controversy for decades. Did 2020 mark a turning point in the debate?
NewsDeaccessioning
The fate of the San Francisco Art Institute’s historic Diego Rivera mural hangs in limbo
The proposed sale of the work has raised outcry from artists and city leaders, who have taken action to protect it
NewsDeaccessioning
Union League Club of Chicago considers selling a prized Monet to stay afloat
The decision has divided members, but there are hopes the work might stay in the Windy City
AnalysisThe Year in Review 2020
Museums 2020: the year of crashing revenues and anti-racism disputes
Turbulent year draws to a close with sector wracked by pandemic lockdowns and Black Lives Matter challenges
NewsArt market
Giacometti, De Chirico and Alfa Romeo cars lead Sotheby's $283m New York sales after major museum works abruptly pulled
Following weeks of controversy, the Baltimore Museum of Art withdrew two paintings just hours before the auction while many other works sold near low estimates
NewsDeaccessioning
Baltimore Museum of Art calls off sale of Warhol, Still and Marden after outcry
Last-gasp decision after talks with the US museum directors association comes just before a Sotheby’s auction
NewsDeaccessioning
US Association of Art Museum Directors sends a warning note to its members on deaccessioning
As works head to market, organisation reminds members that its relaxed rules were not adopted to “incentivise” art sales
NewsDeaccessioning
Sotheby's sale of Israeli museum artefacts delayed after government pressure
Criticism in Israel reached an apex when President Rivlin called for the state to prevent the London auctions
NewsDeaccessioning
Assailing leadership, two former board chairmen say they are rescinding $50m in planned gifts to Baltimore Museum of Art
Two artists also step down as board trustees amid turmoil over plans to deaccession three paintings
NewsDeaccessioning
Sale of more than 250 works from Jerusalem's Islamic art museum raises ethical questions
Israeli museum professionals fear deaccessioning auction could set a dangerous precedent
NewsAuctions
The Royal Opera House's David Hockney painting sells for £12.8m at Christie's amid deaccessioning debate
The auction house's four-part £90.2m "20th Century: London to Paris" sale saw small bursts of energy for quality lots in the wake of Frieze and Fiac's cancellations
NewsDeaccessioning
Responding to outcry, Baltimore Museum of Art board chair defends deaccessioning decision
“The greatness of the BMA’s collection does not live within three individual paintings,” she says as the sale of a Warhol, Still and Marden approaches
NewsDeaccessioning
Former trustees and donors ask state to block sale of three important works by the Baltimore Museum of Art
Letter asks Maryland attorney general and secretary of state to investigate planned deaccessioning of a Warhol, Still and Marden
NewsDeaccessioning
Brooklyn Museum steams ahead on deaccessioning
After netting $4.2m for a Cranach, the museum plans to sell off works by Monet, Dubuffet, Degas, Miró and Matisse
NewsDeaccessioning
To mirror, and support, community: Everson Museum board chair defends deaccessioning of a Pollock
Auction proceeds will go towards diversifying the collection at the Syracuse institution with “inspirational” art
CommentDeaccessioning
Baltimore Museum of Art curators respond to deaccessioning criticism
Equity and diversity make history fairer, more accurate, and more meaningful in the present, they say
NewsDeaccessioning
Palm Springs Art Museum will deaccession a work by Helen Frankenthaler at Sotheby's
The work carries an estimate of $2.5m to $3.5m and will help the museum cope with its financial struggles amid the Covid-19 pandemic
NewsDeaccessioning
'The public need to know the truth': company that valued Sekhemka statue before its controversial sale speaks out
Dealer offered to buy the Egyptian artefact for £4m and save it for the nation, claims Art & Antiques Appraisals
CommentDeaccessioning
‘Uniquely egregious’: The disturbing precedent of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s deaccessioning plan
Sale of three valuable paintings by Warhol, Still and Marden points to a thirst for a $65m windfall, with no curatorial rationale
NewsDeaccessioning
Baltimore Museum of Art will sell important paintings by Warhol, Still and Marden
Acting on relaxed rules, it will use the funds for collection care and salary increases as well as diverse acquisitions
CommentDeaccessioning
Done right, selling museum pieces can work—but probably not with Michelangelos
UK museums may deaccession collection objects with curatorial justification and transparency, but it cannot be treated as a quick financial fix
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Royal Academy of Arts considers selling Michelangelo marble to plug financial hole—and not for the first time
Some academicians argue that instead of cutting almost half of the institution's jobs, it should consider selling the Taddei Tondo—worth several hundred million pounds
NewsDeaccessioning
Cranach, Courbet and Corot: a closer look at what the Brooklyn Museum is selling off
The institution is deaccessioning its only Cranach and 11 other works to finance care of its collection
CommentDeaccessioning
Why the Association of Art Museum Directors’s move on deaccessioning matters so much
Decision to relax rules on selling art exposes chinks in a fortress
Newscoronavirus
AAMD loosens rules for museums seeking to divert income amid coronavirus crisis
While legal hurdles remain, the museum directors’ association will not penalise members who redirect restricted funds to cover operating expenses
BlogDiary of an art historian
Disneyfication at the National Gallery? Plus, the problem with deaccessioning in the UK
The stigma around state museums selling works means that other institutions dare not buy them; and a frank review of the National Gallery's Leonardo exhibition
NewsDeaccessioning
UK local authority's plan to dispose of 90% of works in its collection rings alarm bells
Art Fund raises concerns about consignment of 152 works to auction by Hertfordshire County Council
News
Rio’s Museum of Modern Art finally sells Pollock for around $13m
For a struggling institution, the price is short of earlier estimates
NewsDeaccessioning
Revealed: marquess of Northampton tried to buy Sekhemka statue before it was controversially sold off by UK museum
Ancient Egyptian sculpture was almost bought by the 7th marquess, whose predecessor donated it to the local museum in the 19th century
NewsBerkshire Museum
The Berkshire Museum to sell nine more works from its collection
The institution failed to meet its $55m target at last month's auctions
News
Marc Chagall’s Eiffel Tower goes back on the walls after deaccessioning threat
After facing controversy for attempting to sell the work to fund another acquisition, the National Gallery of Canada will return the Modernist painting to public view
News
Baltimore museum sells blue-chip art to buy works by minority artists
Five works made around $18m (with fees) at auctions at Sotheby’s New York on 19 May, and two were bought for undisclosed sums in private sales
NewsAcquisitions
American University Museum gets 9,000 works from Corcoran Gallery of Art’s collection
The defunct museum has given the last of its 20,000 works to 22 institutions in Washington, DC
NewsDeaccessioning
Anonymous donor steps in to pay hefty penalty for the National Gallery of Canada’s botched Chagall sale
The rushed deaccessioning—to fund the acquisition of another work from neighbouring Quebec—raised a storm of criticism
NewsAcquisitions
George Lucas gives Rockwell fans new hope with acquisition of Shuffleton’s Barbershop
The work will first goes on loan in Massachusetts and possibly elsewhere
News
Supreme Court Justice greenlights Berkshire Museum’s art sale
The institution can now go ahead with plans to auction works from its collection to raise up to $55m for a renovation
News
Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro to sell Brazil’s only Pollock on public view
The museum says the move is necessary for its long-term survival, while others protest the decision as “absurd”
NewsBerkshire Museum
Berkshire Museum and Massachusetts Attorney General reach deal to allow sale of works
If approved by the court, Rockwell's Shuffleton’s Barbershop will be bought by an unnamed US museum, and the other works sold in stages
CommentDeaccessioning
Auction houses must share the blame for university sell-offs
Christie's sale of 46 works from La Salle collection will diminish the museum and its academic programme
News
Massachusetts Attorney General asks for short extension of injunction against Berkshire Museum sale
The state’s investigation into the board’s controversial deaccessioning plan could be wrapping up within a week
News
La Salle sell-off plan rebuked by professional museum and curator groups
Controversy prompts debate about the governance and ethics of university art museums
NewsDeaccessioning
Berkshire Museum art sale to go ahead
A judge in Massachusetts has denied two motions to block next week’s auctions of deaccessioned works
News
Massachusetts Attorney General supports request for restraining order against Berkshire Museum
A court will decide this week whether to temporarily halt the sale of 40 works at Sotheby’s
NewsLaw
Norman Rockwell’s sons file temporary restraining order in Massachusetts court
Two works by their father are among 40 that were due to be sold by the Berkshire Museum
News
Berkshire Museum courts censure from museums groups with plan to sell 40 works
Among the objects to be auctioned for the endowment and refurbishment are two paintings by Norman Rockwell
News
MoMA turns to Paris dealer to sell deaccessioned Dubuffet
Painting is one of two works from the New York museum that Applicat-Prazan will take to major fairs<br>
NewsDeaccessioning
Outcry after Toledo Museum of Art sells ancient Greek and Egyptian objects at auction
The Cypriot ambassador urged the museum to keep the works, while Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities demanded their return and has blacklisted the institution
News
Sekhemka to leave the UK as export licence deadline passes
A matching offer was not made in time to keep the Egyptian statute, controversially sold off by Northampton Museum in 2014, in the country
ArchiveJuly 2014
'The most important Egyptian sculpture ever to come to market': UK city council risks ire by selling off £6m ancient sculpture
Northampton, which wants to raise funds for a gallery extension, is putting its museums' Arts Council accreditation at risk
ArchiveAugust 2013
Comment: The immorality of using Detroit’s art to bail out bankrupt city
Even if it proves legal to sell paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, there is a moral case to consider
ArchiveAugust 2013
Fight for Detroit’s art begins
Director of art museum in bankrupt city steels himself for long battle as price tags are put on greatest works
ArchiveDecember 2012
German museum wants to swap its Giacometti for another Giacometti
The Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg wants to sell the sculpture La Jambe—a key work in its collection—so it can purchase a painting by the artist
ArchiveSeptember 2010
Artists boycott Rose Art Museum shows
Ex-director says Brandeis University “doesn’t understand” outrage over plan to sell-off $350m collection
ArchiveJuly 2010
Eli Broad addresses the American Association of Museums: “Get art out of the basement"
The collector lectures museum professionals at their annual conference in Los Angeles
ArchiveSeptember 2008
Denver Art Museum art-share deal under investigation for breaching deaccessioning guidelines
Billionaire collector was given a half share in a Charles Deas painting in exchange for funding a Thomas Eakins acquisition
ArchiveFebruary 2007
Albright-Knox sells the old to pay for the new
Sotheby's is auctioning 200 antiquities and pre-Modern works worth $15m from the US museum's collection to raise funds to purchase Modern and contemporary art
ArchiveNovember 2006
MoMA's deaccessioned Picasso on show in France
Bequeathed to the museum by Nelson Rockefeller, the painting was controversially sold in 2013
ArchiveMarch 2006
Tate is not a museum: Gallery could lose privileges
As it is not accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council due to its deacquisition guidelines
ArchiveSeptember 2005
V&A sends stolen monstrance on long-term loan to Spain
The 16th-century silver object had been taken from a church in Toro in 1890
ArchiveMuseums
MoMA's sustained deaccessioning continues
The museum is selling paintings by Picasso, Pollock, Léger and De Chirico, among others, at Christie's next month
ArchiveJanuary 2004
Tate considers selling art
Trustees will look at whether the museum should “upgrade” works by living artists
ArchiveJuly 2001
New French legislation allows works less than 30 years old to be deaccessioned
Contemporary art museums say their collections are undervalued and at risk
ArchiveApril 2001
Vintage photos from MoMA to be auctioned at Sotheby's
The museum is to deaccession duplicates from its collection
ArchiveJuly 2000
Publisher Si Newhouse resigns from board over buying Picasso deaccessioned by the museum
Museum of Modern Art’s relations with former trustee's relations were “warm but distant”
CommentArt Market Eye
A flood of art? The market issues around museum deaccessioning
A flurry of museum pieces is heading to auction, but will there be enough buyers for them?
Georgina Adam