Art sale at the NY Public Library

Art in America, June-July, 2005

The board of directors of the New York Public Library has decided to sell 19 works of art from its collection in order to fund the acquisition of books, manuscripts and works on paper that are more in keeping with the library's mission, as well as to increase the endowment. With one exception, the 15 paintings and four busts, considered among the best of the library's once extensive art holdings, will be sold at Sotheby's American paintings auction in December. They are expected to sell for a total of $50-75 million.

Among the works are two portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart (1797, 1800), one of which was owned by Alexander Hamilton; both paintings are currently on view at the National Gallery of Art as part of the Stuart retrospective [through July 31]. Also for sale are two portraits by John Singleton Copley. Kindred Spirits, an 1849 landscape by Hudson River School painter Asher B. Durand that depicts painter Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant on a rocky ledge in the Catskills, will be sold in a private, sealed-bid process. It alone is expected to bring about $25-30 million.

According to library president Paul LeClerc, the funds will not be used for day-to-day operations. He said that the cost of acquiring and maintaining books and research materials has soared, while government funding and the endowment have shrunk. The pending deaccession will leave only a handful of minor artworks and decorative objects. Over the past 60 years, the library has sold about 450 paintings and sculptures.