Kovel's Comments
Jud
much the 'general experts' on collectibles. What follows is today's
VERY interesting topic...how safe are your donations?
>Brandeis University trustees voted unanimously last week to close the Rose Art Museum on campus and sell all of its contents. There had been no advance discussion with faculty, students, the museum's own board, or its director. The college said it needed money, and the museum's collection, all donated, of 7,180 works of art (many from the 1960s-70s) is said to be worth $350 million. Why didn't the trustees sell just a few paintings to cover its $10 million shortfall? The American Association of Museums prohibits accredited museums like Rose from de-accessioning any art except to purchase new art. Brandeis avoids the prohibition by closing the museum, but perhaps the university could have worked out an agreement with the association.
We wonder at the ethics and wisdom of the Brandeis decision to close
the museum. The sale sparked a sit-in by students, and it will also
anger art donors and discourage gifts. Besides, does the university
even have the legal right to sell the art? Will Brandeis first offer
the art back to the donors? Did the board balance the budget at the
expense of a very bad PR move that will haunt them for years? Museums
need to know how the public and future donors feel about the Brandeis
move. This is important to all of us, because our collections of
objects from everyday life could also be destroyed--and future
generations might never see a tinsmith's tools or a wooden washing
machine or even an 18th-century house.
If you are considering giving a gift to a museum, historical society,
school, or some other tax-exempt organization, be sure to obtain a
written agreement. You can give your donation with the legally binding
requirement that if it's sold, the money will be used for more art or
collectibles, not for buildings or salaries or other types of
collections. If the museum or school won't take it under those
conditions, you can require that the donation be returned to you when
the organization no longer wants it. If the museum or school balks at
that request, give your donation to someone else. Years ago a serious
collector and author of information on wooden wares gave her entire,
valuable collection to a local museum to be displayed and studied--
only to live long enough (over 90) to see the museum sell all of it.
And the museum even ignored her wishes and used the money it made
selling her collection to pay for other projects.
Have you ever donated coins to the ANA, ANS or a museum? I notice that
the ANS regularly sells off duplicates from their collection. The ANA
has sold some of the books from their library, and am happy to have
obtained some rare references via that source. To my way of thinking,
what Brandeis did was unethical at the very least, and criminal at
best. It also puts another slant on the archaeologist/collector
dispute.
Bruce Remick
"Jud" <numis...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:94762666-6830-4105...@t3g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
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This isn't that different from leaving the valuable coin collection you
treasured to an heir in your will. The recipient usually will be free to do
whatever he or she wants with the collection. The upside is that you'll
never know (according to most religious beliefs) what happens after you've
gone. Even if you pass your collection on while you're alive to someone who
you know will appreciate it, there's no guarantee they won't "cash in" when
you depart. At least with a museum donation while alive, you'll be able to
take a tax deduction.
PC
>
> This isn't that different from leaving the valuable coin collection you
> treasured to an heir in your will. The recipient usually will be free to do
> whatever he or she wants with the collection. The upside is that you'll
> never know (according to most religious beliefs) what happens after you've
> gone. Even if you pass your collection on while you're alive to someone who
> you know will appreciate it, there's no guarantee they won't "cash in" when
> you depart. At least with a museum donation while alive, you'll be able to
> take a tax deduction.
I thought being Catholic I would know what happens after I die; just
that I would be in the spirit world. Thanks for bursting my bubble. :-
(
Bruce Remick
"PC" <Super...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f062a5f5-0085-4f39...@t39g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
**************
It may all depend on whether you'll be up there looking down or down there
looking up. Have you booked a reservation yet? If not, keep the faith.
oly
It is possible that some alumni or donors could sue the trustees for a
breach of fiduciary duty, in that they should have made this sale much
earlier, as they are now selling into a weak art market. Any law suit
should suggest that it is now the trustees' duty to hold on to the
collections until the markets recover, or in the event of sale, that
the trustees should PERSONALLY pay any difference between top of the
market prices and current prices. A sale delayed may never happen.
Sometimes, nuisance lawsuits are constructive.
Yes indeed, the ANS just sold a lot of nice ancient stuff (reportedly
duplicates) at the Gemini V sale in NYC in January.
oly