I now have it from two sources who requested anonymity—one of whom is 100% unimpeachable—that Sotheby’s brokered the private sale of the National Academy’s Frederic Church and Sanford Gifford, and that the following are the two other Academy works whose sale is being considered (assuming that its officials haven’t thought better of it, in light of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ censure):
—John White Alexander, “Portrait of Mrs. Thomas Hastings” (wife of the famous architect of the Carrère and Hastings firm that designed the NY Public Library), 1901
—Robert Blum, “Study for a Japanese Beggar,” 1891
As for how much the AAMDs’ censure may cost the Academy, look no further than the current excellent George Tooker retrospective, with loans from the Metropolitan Museum, Whitney Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Toledo Museum, Philadelphia Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art and Hirshhorn Museum.
The show was organized in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Columbus Museum, which also loaned works.
AAMD has asked its members to cease loans to and collaborations with the academy.