In these financially hard times in Detroit, the mere suggestion of auctioning off art from the Detroit Institute of Art triggers some strong emotions.
A day after the city had its first hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Detroit Free Press reports that art critics and online commentators are riled over the fact Christie’s, the New York-based auction house, visited the museum in June to possibly angle for a piece of the action should the DIA have to sell its art to help pay off creditors.
The word "vulture" comes to mind.
Freep reporter Mark Stryker reports:
Culture reporter Judith Dobrzynski on Tuesday compared Christie’s behavior to a vulture. “Shame on Christie’s,” she wrote on her blog Real Clear Arts. “Sure, business is business, but let’s remember here that it is not the Detroit Institute of Arts that has mismanaged the city and led to the bankruptcy. ... Is Christie’s so hard up that it will take any business, no matter how reprehensible?”
Art critic Tyler Green, who writes the influential art blog Modern Art Notes, used even more incendiary language, tweeting Wednesday that Christie’s “apparently hates Detroit.” In a second tweet, he wrote: “Would we be OK with Big Pharma using a national tragedy to hike up the price of drugs? No. Ditto @Christie’s and its eagerness here.”
Stryker reports that DIA director Graham Beal confirmed that two officials from Christie’s visited the museum to ostensibly to appraise works on view.
The Freep reports that the Emergency Manager's office said it did not request the visit from Christies, suggesting a creditor may have done so.
Under the federal bankruptcy, some fear that a judge might seize some assets to help satisfy Detroit's huge debt.
The issue is a very controversial one. Some say the art should never be touched.
Others say it seems absurd that while residents get inadequate police, fire and EMS service, the art sits in the museum. Some of it isn't even on display and sits in storage.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has given no indication yet whether he'll go after any of the art.
