Eakins Rescue: How the Deal Got Done

There’s a fascinating article by Philadelphia-based Julia Klein in today’s Wall Street Journal that’s a must-read for anyone desiring an inside view of the successful effort to keep Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic” in Philadelphia. (The link is here for those of you with online WSJ subscriptions; otherwise, pick up a copy.)
But do we really want “the creativity of this arrangement” to “serve as a model for other nonprofits when selling works of singular cultural significance,” as proposed by Marc Porter, president of Christie’s, which brokered the deal?
The “model” of a megabucks collector, willing to pay a record amount that cash-strapped nonprofits must then frantically scramble to match, in order to enrich another nonprofit, is surely not a prospect that brings joy to any museum director or museumgoer.
Spare us such “creativity”!