New Wrinkles in Philly’s Save-the-Eakins Campaign

Here’s an enterprising use of the Internet: The fundraising campaign, led by the Philadelphia Museum, to keep Eakins‘ “The Gross Clinic” in Philadelphia now has a website for online donations. Thomas Jefferson University has given local institutions and the general Philly community until Dec. 26 to match the $68 million jointly offered for the painting by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton‘s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark., and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
But stop the presses: Mayor John Street has just nominated the Eakins “for protection under the city’s historic preservation ordinance, noting the painting’s deep historical and cultural resonance throughout Philadelphia,” as reported in yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer. I first came across Stephan Salisbury‘s article as a link in The Art Law Blog and it will be interesting to see what attorney/blogger Donn Zaretsky makes of the conflict between the property rights of the would-be seller and the public interest in “historic preservation.”
Whatever the legalities, which may have to be resolved in court, there is a danger that the fundraising momentum may be slowed by the expectation that the city may be able to step in and stop the sale. A similar Philadelphia case, over a Maxfield Parrish/Louis Comfort Tiffany mural, resulted in a three-year court battle, according to the Inquirer.
Whatever happens, the online fundraising strikes me as a resourceful approach. Maybe the Friends of the Barnes Foundation should try this.
Maybe ALL museums should.