Asset-stripping in the art world
Last month, two important paintings, once on display at the Royal Cornwall Museum, were quietly auctioned at Christie’s in London. The pictures - ‘Bondage’ by Ernest Normand and ‘The Sea Maiden’ by Herbert Draper - are flamboyant pieces of Victorian erotic art.
Under the hammer each commanded £1million.
They went from being on show for all to see straight into the homes of unnamed private owners, one of whom is based in America. This is the problem with selling off collections: they go out of reach from you and me.
Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, the chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, which owns and manages the museum, said:
‘We are delighted with the outcome of these sales, particularly in today’s market. The reality is we have had to take some extremely hard decisions and the money realised by the sale of these paintings is a real step forward in ensuring the long-term stability of the RIC and the Royal Cornwall Museum.’
So what will the museum spend the money on? Is there a far more important work to acquire?
No. They plan to place the cash in an endowment fund.
The RIC had been hoping for £3million for the two paintings, but it didn’t get that much, partly due to the rocky state of the art market. In other words, a museum sold off two significant paintings to raise money to invest, at a bad time to invest, and achieved one-third less than it had estimated. And now the art work is gone.
This isn’t economising - it’s asset stripping.
[…]
Full article by Tiffany Jenkins at Spiked Online
Under the hammer each commanded £1million.
They went from being on show for all to see straight into the homes of unnamed private owners, one of whom is based in America. This is the problem with selling off collections: they go out of reach from you and me.
Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, the chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, which owns and manages the museum, said:
‘We are delighted with the outcome of these sales, particularly in today’s market. The reality is we have had to take some extremely hard decisions and the money realised by the sale of these paintings is a real step forward in ensuring the long-term stability of the RIC and the Royal Cornwall Museum.’
So what will the museum spend the money on? Is there a far more important work to acquire?
No. They plan to place the cash in an endowment fund.
The RIC had been hoping for £3million for the two paintings, but it didn’t get that much, partly due to the rocky state of the art market. In other words, a museum sold off two significant paintings to raise money to invest, at a bad time to invest, and achieved one-third less than it had estimated. And now the art work is gone.
This isn’t economising - it’s asset stripping.
[…]
Full article by Tiffany Jenkins at Spiked Online