Effects of the Great Recession on museums

Consideration of the dire financial state of these institutions, and the intensifying effect that any punitive action by an ethics organization will have on the finances of an individual museum, has fostered debate on the merits of deaccessioning.

When this coalition raised only half of the required one million dollar bond, the court lifted the injunction and the college proceeded to sell Troubador at Christie's in April 2008.

[4] On 5 December 2008, the National Academy of Design announced that it had sold two canvases by Hudson River School painters for 13.5 million dollars in order to meet its operating costs: Mount Mansfield, Vermont, by Sanford Robinson Gifford; and Scene on the Magdalene, by Frederic Edwin Church.

[5][6][7] Some have attributed the poor financial state of the academy to its unusual leadership, as most museums are governed by professional administrators and curators.

[7] On 17 March 2009, a bill that would ban museums from selling artwork to meet operating costs was proposed by Richard Brodsky in the New York State Assembly.

[10] Brandeis University has drawn criticism after its 26 January 2009 surprise announcement that it would close the Rose Art Museum by the end of the summer.

[18] In August 2012, Fisk University in Nashville sold a 50% interest in 101 pieces, originally donated to the historically black college in 1949 by Georgia O'Keeffe, to Crystal Bridges Museum (founded in Bentonville by Walmart heir Alice Walton) for $30 million.

As the Detroit Institute of Arts is city-owned, state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr has sought an appraisal of billions of dollars of museum artwork.

The decision also brought criticism from art collectors, such as Frank Cohen, who was quoted as saying "People won't want to give things away to museums if they think they might be sold in future.

"[22] Similarly, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery made the decision to sell an Egyptian Sekhemka statue to substantial controversy.