I don't quite know what's wrong with me, but, museum-supporter that I am, I don't have visceral outrage at deaccessioning and closure that others do. Sometimes, difficult choices must be made, and a collection needs judicious pruning. What's the use of having all this amazing stuff when your institution is poor and it's just moldering (well, hopefully not MOLDERING, but you know what I mean) in a basement somewhere? Yet even the hint of it seems enough to get certain sectors of the art world clutching their pearls and sputtering about "cultural heritage" and the "public trust."
I tend to agree, Frank. If one place can't handle the stuff, there's sure to be someplace that can. I'm far more bothered by the fact that there is probably plenty of stuff in art museum basements that ought be on display but isn't because it doesn't match the tastes of the curators.
I don't quite know what's wrong with me, but, museum-supporter that I am, I don't have visceral outrage at deaccessioning and closure that others do. Sometimes, difficult choices must be made, and a collection needs judicious pruning. What's the use of having all this amazing stuff when your institution is poor and it's just moldering (well, hopefully not MOLDERING, but you know what I mean) in a basement somewhere? Yet even the hint of it seems enough to get certain sectors of the art world clutching their pearls and sputtering about "cultural heritage" and the "public trust."
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree, Frank. If one place can't handle the stuff, there's sure to be someplace that can. I'm far more bothered by the fact that there is probably plenty of stuff in art museum basements that ought be on display but isn't because it doesn't match the tastes of the curators.
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