College’s art auction on hold

Randolph College simply wanted to sell four highlights from its renowned American art collection to boost its endowment and protect its accreditation. Instead, it has fallen into a bitter legal battle with art lovers who consider the sale an unethical breach of public trust.

That fight has led the Virginia Supreme Court to block the sale by the New York-based Christie’s auction house.

Officials of the private liberal arts college in Lynchburg had hoped to get at least $32 million by auctioning “Troubador” by Rufino Tamayo, “Men of the Docks” by George Bellows, “A Peaceable Kingdom” by Edward Hicks and “Through the Arroyo” by Ernest Hennings.

Christie’s, however, estimated that the Bellows painting alone could command as much as $35 million, which would be a record for a work of American art sold at auction.

Some outraged Randolph employees resigned in protest of the plan and joined other critics in a suit seeking to stop the sale.

The state Supreme Court on Friday gave the plaintiffs until Dec. 3 to keep an injunction in force by posting a $1-million bond -- lowered from the $10 million set by a local judge. The injunction would expire in six months, leaving open the possibility of a sale then unless there is further court action.

The art community sees it as a moral imperative to keep the collection intact at the college’s Maier Museum of Art for the education and cultural enrichment of students and the community.

“There’s an ethical contract between donors and a museum,” said Ellen Agnew, the former associate director at Maier and a plaintiff in the art lawsuit. “You’re using this for an educational resource. Museums do not think about objects they hold as a financial asset.”

Randolph spokeswoman Brenda Edson said that two of the paintings were donated and two were bought by the college -- none came with restrictions.

Opponents of the sale say that doesn’t matter.

“Donors have given to the museum without strings because nobody would have imagined this would happen,” said Laura Katzman, who resigned in April as a professor of American art and director of the museum studies program at Randolph.

Edson said that the decision to sell the paintings was painful for Randolph’s governing board but that a review coming from an accrediting agency -- which already had put the school on warning -- left it no other choice.

The school of about 660 students has already reduced staff, eliminated low-demand programs and taken other money-saving steps, she said. Although the college is not in danger of closing, she said, it needs to do more to improve its long-term financial viability.

The solution, she said, was to strengthen the college’s $152-million endowment -- and the only way to do that in time for the accreditation review was to sell assets.

“In the museum industry, this is frowned upon,” Edson acknowledged. “It’s not looked upon favorably if you sell artwork for this purpose. But we are a college first. . . .”

Katzman said she was not convinced all financial options were exhausted.

Opponents say a sale could have serious repercussions for museums and colleges nationwide. People will be reluctant to give art, or money to buy art, for fear that the acquisitions will be sold, Agnew said.

“The ripple effect is tremendous,” she said.

Organizations that have protested the sale include the Virginia Assn. of Museums, the Assn. of Art Museum Directors and the College Art Assn.

“They’re ignoring the larger art world and larger community that has issues with the values implied in their actions,” said Katzman, now an associate professor of art history at James Madison University.