Another Thing I Didn't Know About Art

A front page story in the NYT today discusses the polar opposite financial situation that the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) find themselves in.  While MOMA just received a $100 million donation from David Geffen, the Met is struggling with a $10 million deficit and will have to cut programs and staff in order to get their house in order.  It certainly is an indication of how popular modern and contemporary art, an area that the Met has studiously avoided, has become. However, the Met has many thousands of objects, some of which never see the light of day and you would think that they might consider selling off one or two of those items in the basement in order to shore up their finances. But, apparently, this is strictly verboten. The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) requests its members not to associate themselves with any museum that actually sells some of its art work, rather than curating it forever. Now they have some possibly valid reasons for this, primarily because it may concern donors that their gifts could be sold off on a whim. But you would think there might be some exception for items that never actually get displayed or when the museum is in desperate financial situation.

Now I know my ignorance of art is pretty broad, but I was truly surprised to find this out.  Just another thing I never knew…