{"id":1711,"date":"2018-05-28T03:55:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-28T03:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archaeology.sa\/en\/?p=1711"},"modified":"2018-05-28T03:55:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T03:55:06","slug":"sanctions-are-imposed-on-berkshire-museum-for-sale-of-artworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/?p=1711","title":{"rendered":"Sanctions Are Imposed on Berkshire Museum for Sale of Artworks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts sparked a debate when it announced last year plans to sell 40 pieces by artists like Norman Rockwell and use the proceeds to for an expansion initiative.CreditBen Garver\/The Berkshire Eagle, via Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne of the country\u2019s professional museum organizations announced on Friday that its board of trustees had voted to impose sanctions on the Berkshire Museum, which recently sold artworks to support an expansion initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelling art to support any need other than to build a museum\u2019s collection fundamentally undermines the critically important relationships between museums, donors and the public,\u201d the organization, the Association of Art Museum Directors, wrote in a statement. \u201cWhen museums violate the trust of their donors and the public, they diminish the opportunity and responsibility to make great works of art available to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The A.A.M.D. said that the sanctions would be effective immediately, and they would include a request that each of the association\u2019s 243 members refrain from lending works to the Berkshire Museum or collaborating with it on exhibitions.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the Berkshire Museum, Carol Bosco Baumann, called the sanctions regrettable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe possibility of sanctions was carefully considered by the board when deciding whether to deaccession any works to secure and sustain the museum\u2019s future,\u201d she said in an email. \u201cWe determined then and strongly believe now that to protect our most important asset \u2014 the museum\u2019s open doors \u2014 it was necessary.\u201d
\nThe museum, in Pittsfield, Mass., sparked a widespread debate and drew vehement objections last summer when it announced plans to sell 40 pieces by artists like Norman Rockwell, Albert Bierstadt and Alexander Calder and use the proceeds to increase its endowment, renovate its building and expand programming.<\/p>\n

Museum officials said revenue from sales was vital to the institution\u2019s survival. Among those who criticized the plans were museum members and descendants of Rockwell. The A.A.M.D., whose code of ethics says that artworks should be sold only in specific circumstances to add new works, condemned the planned sale in a letter with another organization, the American Alliance of Museums.<\/p>\n

After lawsuits and conflicting court rulings, the Massachusetts attorney general\u2019s office, which has oversight of nonprofit organizations, agreed in February on a framework for the museum to sell as many as 40 works to raise up to $55 million.<\/p>\n

Thirteen works, including Rockwell\u2019s \u201cBlacksmith\u2019s Boy \u2014 Heel and Toe\u201d and Frederic Edwin Church\u2019s \u201cValley of Santa Isabel, New Granada,\u201d were offered for sale this month by Sotheby\u2019s. The sales brought net proceeds of $42 million to the museum, it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese auctions move the Berkshire Museum important steps forward by providing resources needed to secure the museum\u2019s future,\u201d Elizabeth McGraw, the president of the museum\u2019s board of trustees, said last week in a statement. \u201cWe will take time now to consider how we will proceed, through possible auction and private sale, to gain the additional resources needed.\u201d
\nThe A.A.M.D. also announced that it would sanction the La Salle University Art Museum in Philadelphia, which recently sold works to raise money for the school.<\/p>\n

By Colin Moynihan
\nThe New York Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the country\u2019s professional museum organizations announced on Friday that its board of trustees had voted to impose sanctions on the Berkshire Museum, which recently sold artworks to support an expansion initiative. \u201cSelling art to support any need other than to build a museum\u2019s collection fundamentally undermines the critically important relationships between museums, donors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1713,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1711\/revisions\/1713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}