Grachos on deaccessioning
In a commentary by Daniel Grant published today in the Wall Street Journal, Albright-Knox Art Gallery Director Louis Grachos talks about why the gallery decided to sell its items at auction in 2007 as opposed to making private deals with other museums and collectors. It's an interesting take on the decision that we haven't heard before:
In most cases, museums prefer going to auction. Whatever criticism these institutions receive for selling objects only increases if they don't do it that way. Take, for example, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., a museum devoted to contemporary art that sold 207 of its older artworks at Sotheby's, raising $67.2 million. There was some discussion at the board level of selling pieces directly to other museums or through art dealers, said Louis Grachos, the Albright-Knox's director, "but in the end, it just seemed like going the auction route was the safest and wisest choice."
Certainly wise in this case, but why safest? "We were under a microscope, and people were looking for any reason whatsoever to attack us," he said. "Going to public auction made all our actions transparent. No one could claim that we were pursuing back-room deals."
--Colin Dabkowski


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