The Baltimore Museum of Art has decided to sell three major works in part so it can expand ongoing diversity and equity initiatives, such as increasing pay for its staff and offering evening hours.
The works that will be sold are The Last Supper (1986) by Andy Warhol; 1957-G (1957) by Clyfford Still, and 3 (1987-88) by Brice Marden. The museum’s trustees decided to sell the three works on October 1, one day after the museum completed a phased-in reopening after being shut down for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sales are expected to generate more than $65 million for the museum.

Museum leaders say they aren’t de-accessioning the works out of desperation. Instead, they say, the sale is intended to support an initiative called “Endowment for the Future,” a financial plan that will dedicate funds to care for the collection and help change the way the museum operates. It makes the museum one of the first in the country to take advantage of recent changes in policy from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) regarding the deaccessioning of art.

In the past, the AAMD has not approved of the practice of deaccessioning works of art – selling works from a supposedly “permanent” collection — to support operations or shore up a shaky budget. It only approved of deaccessioning art in order to buy new works, which the BMA did after it sold seven pieces in 2018.

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