New York's Metropolitan Museum plans to sell works to cover budget hole

With a $150 million hole in its budget, the Metropolitan Museum in New York is considering resorting to deaccessioning and selling some of its artworks to cover its losses, the New York Times reports in an article by Robin Pogrebin. Shortly after the start of the pandemic, theAssociation of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) in fact gave the green light for museums in financial difficulty to sell their works, and already some museums have availed themselves of this option. So now it seems to be the Met’s turn: “It’s time to start keeping all options open,” said director Max Hollein. “No one has a complete idea of how the pandemic will evolve. It may be inappropriate for us not to consider the possibility, as we are still in a smoky situation.”

The AAMD granted museums this possibility for a two-year window of time: before, museums could still sell artwork, but only with the purpose of enriching the collection. Still, the Met’s opening met with some resistance, including that of former director Thomas P. Campbell (now director of the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco), who on Saturday, posting on his Instagram account, said he was “baffled” by the news. “I know better than anyone the complexities of running a behemoth like the Met and have great empathy for those sitting in the cockpit,” he said, "but I fear this is a slippery slope. The danger is that resorting to deaccessioning to cover current expenses will become the norm, especially if large museums like the Met do it. Resorting to deaccessioning could be like giving cocaine to an addict: a quick fix that becomes an addiction."

Should the Met decide to avail itself of this option, a thorough evaluation will first be done by the curatorial staff, after which the choices will have to be approved by management and the board of trustees, and finally the works can be sold in a public auction. Before that, however, the Met would have to approve an amendment to the bylaws, in the places where they talk about the way collections are managed (a step that, reports the New York Times, is expected in March). Softening the museum’s rules, however, will be a necessity, notes Ian Alteveer, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Met. “It’s urgent. We have a major deficit. We’ve been trying for years to get more robust resources for conservation, one of the main things for curating collections.” He is finally echoed by Director Hollein: “All the museums in the United States are talking about this possibility. ’Do we want to use this window? What would it mean for our institution? What would it mean for the collection?’ Not to discuss it: that would be really irresponsible for us.”

New York's Metropolitan Museum plans to sell works to cover budget hole

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