Sunday, November 06, 2011

"The museum and its superb collection have never looked better."

Boston Globe art critic Sebastian Smee on the reborn Rose Art Museum.

A couple of quick notes.

First, he suggests the following as a "good working principle" for museums to follow: "Don’t sell things you received as gifts."

But the standard, AAMD position on deaccessioning is actually:  Don't sell things you received as gifts unless you use the proceeds to buy more art, in which case knock yourself out.

Second, he says the lawsuit brought by the museum's supporters was settled "with Brandeis agreeing not to sell the Rose’s collection."  That's not the case.