Yesterday, the Delaware Museum of Art said it would retire the debt it acquired imprudently (my word), for an expansion, by the end of this month.
In part, that’s because it succeeded in deaccessioning its second work of art, Calder’s Black Crescent (at right), which it sold privately. The museum did not disclose the purchase price or the purchaser, but the Wilmington News Journal estimated the take at $10.6 million “based on the auction results and [Board chair Gerrit] Copeland’s estimate of the investment fund withdrawal.”
The paper added:
As for the third work selected for sale – Winslow Homer’s “Milking Time” (1875) – the museum is holding off for now after rejecting several low bids, Copeland said.
“Basically, there’s no interest in Homers,” he added.
Huh? American art, including Homer, has obviously not seen the large leaps that contemporary art has, but there’s a market for Homer.
Just to cite one quick example, a far less interesting painting called Peach Blossoms sold at Sotheby’s in 2010 for nearly $2.9 million. Milking Time is a much better picture.
It makes one wonder whether the officials running this museum are competent. Why would they sell a Homer if there’s no interest in his works?
The same could be said for its first sale, William Holman Hunt’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil, which fetched £2.5 million, hammer price, against a £5 million to £8 million presale estimate.Â
When they do retire the debt, and recruit a new director, I hope they also repair the governance of this museum.