As early as 1885, the Met could be seen exchanging works of which it held multiple copies, for other pieces which would make valuable additions to its collection. In its Annual Report for 1970, under the then directorship of Thomas Hoving, the Museum formally reviewed its collection policy, announcing its new-found interest in upgrading its collection. Under this policy, the Museum’s focus shifted to the acquisition of "rare masterpieces of the highest quality”. To fund such purchases the Museum began to sell mid to high value pieces from its collection. Though, as stated, the Met had always removed minor works to sustain the acquisition of new pieces, this policy allowed works of greater value to be deaccessioned. Soon after in 1972, …show more content…
The first section lists the criteria that should be considered when determining whether or not a work of art should be deaccessioned. In accordance with this criteria, some reasons why an artwork may be removed from the Museum’s collection are as follows; first, the work may no longer further the mission of the Museum, second, the work may have become redundant – perhaps because the Museum holds multiple copies or because its collection includes too many of its kind, third, the work may be of lesser quality than others of its kind in the collection or other works to be acquired, fourth, the work may be lacking in “aesthetic merit or art historical importance” and fifth, the Museum may no longer be able to properly care for the work – be this due to irreversible deterioration or insufficient resources. As previously stated, a work may also be deaccessioned if the Museum is ordered under a court sentence to return the piece to its rightful owner or if the Museum determines that another party holds title to the …show more content…
The cash proceeds from the sale of these works was marked at over $5.4 million. Approximately 2,800 of these objects were garments and accessories from the Museum’s costume department. This selling-spree continued well into 2014 with the deaccession of various more pieces, including works donated by George Blumenthal, who was president of the Museum in the 1930s. Blumenthal’s collection was bequeathed to the museum after his death in 1941. However, the majority of these piece remained in storage for many years. Included in this collection was a painting from the 15th century of the Madonna with Child by the Master of the Argonauts which sold at auction in January for $269,000 and a 16th century painting by the Master of the Plump-Cheeked Madonnas, titled Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic, Augustine, Margaret, and Barbara, which sold for $941,000 that same day. The Museum used the money from these sales to purchase that same month, a 1st-2nd century Roman Cinerary Urn for over $1.4 million. Campbell, in response to criticisms regarding such deaccessioning activities stated: “It’s sometimes portrayed in the press as if we’re trading houses, with objects going in and going out. That’s not the case. It’s like a gardener pruning a tree over a long period of time. Deaccessioning is a healthy part of the management of any museum