Albright-Knox Disposals: More Windfalls and Fallout

Albright-Knox objects offered Friday at Sotheby’s auction of Indian and Southeast Asian art were hammered down for a total of $6.1 million, bringing the grand hammer-price total (including Tuesday’s Chinese art sale) to $22.2 million. More sales to come.
The highlight of Friday’s deaccessions was the life-size granite figure of Shiva as Brahma, Chola Period, ca. 10th-/11th century, selling for $4,072,000 with buyers commission ($3.6 million hammer), an auction record for an Indian stone sculpture. It had been in the Buffalo museum’s collection since 1927.
Meanwhile, a member of the Albright-Knox, Joanna Gillespie, weighed in with a long letter to CultureGrrl taking issue with Katka Hammond‘s BlogBack criticizing the museum’s actions in rounding up pro-deaccession votes from the membership. Some excerpts:
Katka blames the defeat of the Buffalo Art Keepers (BAK) resolution against the Albright-Knox’s decision to deaccession on the “organization and power that we were unfortunately unable to overcome.” In doing so, she inaccurately states what the BAK and the Albright-Knox actually did prior to the special meeting of the membership.
I am not sure why Katka inaccurately (or incompletely) reported the facts. I suspect it is because she does not want to accept the overwhelming membership support for the Albright-Knox’s deaccession plan. She portrays the BAK as the helpless victims, omitting the fact that the BAK had its own (very well organized, I might add) petition and proxy effort….
The Albright-Knox did not engage in a mass proxy mailing. Instead, board members, select gallery staff and volunteers made personal phone calls to as many members as possible, in an attempt to personally answer questions, get supportive proxy votes (of course!) and encourage attendance at the meeting.