At major universities:

Rocked by a budget crisis, Brandeis University will close its Rose Art Museum and sell off a 6,000-object collection that includes work by such contemporary masters as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Nam June Paik.

The move shocked local arts leaders and drew harsh criticism from the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries. Rose Art Museum director Michael Rush declined comment this evening, saying he had just learned of the decision.

Jen? I believe you were recently wondering aloud about the taboo of museums selling their art and “reasoned reform”—diving to the bottom of that conversation is becoming urgent.

UPDATE

For Greg in the comments—”always be closing” refers to this:

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

19 replies on “Always Be Closing”

  3. I firmly believe that most of the outcry over this sort of thing comes from art investors and other people whose primary focus is the dollar value of art, who are afraid not that great art will cease to exist (none of these pieces will be destroyed) but that their financial pyramid will crumble.

    There really isn’t any PARTICULAR need for Brandeis to maintain a gallery, is there? There are only a zillion other better ones in the Boston area.

  9. Fnarf: Huh? When universities see their art collections as their personal stash just awaiting a trip to the pawn shop, then, yeah, it’s a problem.

  10. Well, to whom do YOU think they belong?

    If the university has to choose between a pile of paintings and their students, instructors, or courses, the paintings lose. Yes, it sucks, but not THAT much. Unlike a library, which by definition is mostly filled with “reproductions”, a collection of original art is a luxury that doesn’t necessarily promote the goal of the university — especially when there are much better collections just a train stop away.

    Brandeis wouldn’t be doing this if they were not desperate. Better they shut their doors? Or just stop teaching, say, math or history? No part of an education, even an art degree, not even a thesis on Warhol, for instance, is dependent on the specific items in their collection.

  11. It seems like a lot of art aficionados get freaked out by the prospect of art being owned by private collectors. It’s taken out of public view and may theoretically not be cared for as well as it would be by experts. They’re like Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. “That belongs in a museum!”

  18. oh jesus, no one is going to read this, but why not? Fnarf, you didn’t mention in your comment anything about the accessibility of Brandeis’s collection after it is sold into private collections. We (the public) may never get to see this works again if they go into private homes. While you may be able to take a train to another museum in the area, Brandeis’s was curated for with a philosophy in mind and is unique to the university. You will not be able to replicate that experience elsewhere, especially if the majority of the buyers are private collectors. Also, it seems lazy to offhandedly refer to other museums’ collections as “better.”

    Furthermore, @14, SHUUUUUT UUUUUUUP GAAAAHHHHHDDDDD

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