Even More on Deaccessioning and the National Academy

Sorry to bombard you with even more on deaccessioning and the saga of the National Academy. Unfortunately it is the gift that keeps giving, and this NY Times article is just too good to pass up. Although we should not make light of the current situation at the National Academy, it is operating and functioning under dire circumstances (although many are self inflicted).

Robin Pogrebin of the NY Times just published more information on the status and situation of the National Academy and the impact and expected impact of the censure by the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Pogrebin states the institution was recently branded a pariah by the Association of Art Museum Directors. That group views such stopgap measures as a breach of basic principles, stipulating that museums can sell art only to finance new acquisitions.

The association urged its members to cut off all loans to the academy and forgo any collaborations.

To the academy’s leadership, such censure was not only an indignity but also a shove for an institution on a financial precipice. The academy has been running a deficit for five years, and this year’s shortfall is estimated at around $1 million. It has a $4 million annual operating budget.

The academy has been borrowing heavily from its $10 million endowment — $3 million of which is restricted — to pay the bills and has had difficulty paying the museum guards and the heating bill. Its very mission is in disarray, and several board members have resigned over the last six months to protest the institution’s direction — or what some say is a lack thereof.

A recent proposal to sell the academy’s Beaux Arts museum building on Fifth Avenue and two additional buildings on East 89th Street, and to relocate, was supported by the academy’s 20-member board, known as the council. But the move was rejected by the institution’s professional artist members, known as academicians.

The article also has a fair amount of finger pointing, with advisory board members saying the general membership of academicians do not have a grasp on the dire situation the academy faces. The advisory board is placing blame at the feet of the 337 academicians who control the academy and are artists, not museum managers, financial planners and marketing experts. But if you read the article, it certainly makes you wonder how such poor management and lack of foresight could have happened. So who is to blame, museum management, the 337 member academicians......I am going to venture a guess, but I would assume both have had a hand in developing and perpetuating the situation.

Marcy Molinaro in her comments I posted earlier today mentions the National Academy had issues 40 years ago.

An excellent read for everyone, but a very sad, sad story about one of the premier and historic fine art institutions. To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.