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Brooklyn Museum forced to sell art as it struggles in coronavirus times

The Brooklyn Museum reopened on September 12 after six months locked down due to the coronavirus - Reuters
The Brooklyn Museum reopened on September 12 after six months locked down due to the coronavirus - Reuters

The cash-strapped Brooklyn Museum is putting a dozen works up for auction at Christie’s, becoming the first to take advantage of a loosening of the rules on sales during the coronavirus.

Selling off work from a museum, which is known as deaccessioning, to pay for operating costs has long been taboo and has in some instances even incurred sanctions.

The museum, which was forced to close for six months during New York’s lockdown, is selling paintings, including canvases by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, to raise funds for the care of its collection.

Normally, museums are only encouraged to sell artwork if the proceeds enhance a larger collection or enables them to acquire more work.

“This is something that is hard for us to do,” said Anne Pasternak, the museum’s director. “But it’s the best thing for the institution and the longevity and care of the collections.”

Lucas Cranach the Elder's Lucretia, which the Brooklyn Museum is selling, is estimate at around $1.8 million. - Christie's
Lucas Cranach the Elder's Lucretia, which the Brooklyn Museum is selling, is estimate at around $1.8 million. - Christie's

The deaccessioned works “are good examples of their kind but don’t diminish our collections in their absence,” Ms Pasternak said. “We have a deep collection of high-quality art, but we have works that — like many museums of our size — have not been shown ever or for decades.”

Works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Donato de’ Bardi, Giovanni dal Ponte, Francesco Botticini and a portrait attributed to Lorenzo Costa, will be sold in Christie’s old masters live auction on October 15.

Christie’s has valued French painter Jehan Georges Vibert's Spanish Bullfighter With Flowers at $300,000 (£233,000) and German Renaissance artist Cranach’s Lucretia at $1.8 million.

Ms Pasternak said they are aiming to establish a $40 million fund.

The Association of Art Museum Directors decided in April that it would not penalise museums that use the proceeds from deaccessioned art to pay for expenses associated with “the direct care of collections,” recognising that the cost involved in maintaining huge collections may not be sustainable in the current climate.

This Corot is being deaccessioned by the Brooklyn Museum and will be at Christie’s European Art sale on Oct. 15. - Christie's
This Corot is being deaccessioned by the Brooklyn Museum and will be at Christie’s European Art sale on Oct. 15. - Christie's

Museums were among the non-essential buildings forced to close during New York City’s shutdown. Brooklyn Museum only reopened to the public this week, at 25 per cent capacity.

The Guggenheim Museum too has also been in dire straits. Reporting a loss of $1.4 million every month it was closed, the museum has had to lay off more than 50 staff.

While some lamented the move as a necessary one in the trying times, others were critical.

“You don’t sell off the thing that is the core of a museum — you don’t sell books out of a library,” Robert Storr, the critic and curator told the New York Times. “This is the last resort, and it is a very, very bad move to be making. What we’re witnessing is an institutional and social betrayal of lasting impact.”