Two organizations are sanctioning the Delaware Art Museum after it auctioned off a piece of its collection this week
The Association of Art Museum Directors Wednesday told its 242 members to suspend all art loans to the Wilmington museum and halt any collaborations with it.
An American Alliance of Museums committee voted unanimously Wednesday to remove the Delaware Art Museum's accreditation. That move by the national museum advocacy organization does not have any immediate impact, but is a blow to the Delaware Art Museum’s reputation.
The Delaware Art Museum board voted to sell off four works to help make up for $30 million dollars in debt.
The first work - William Holman Hunt’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil - was auctioned off Tuesday. The 1868 Pre-Raphaelite work sold at Christie’s in London for $4.25 million, far below Christie’s estimate of between $8.4 and $13.4 million.
The lower than expected auction price could mean museum officials will need to sell off additional pieces to reach their goal.
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
