Professor Adam J. Levitin of Georgetown has an excellent piece in Salon this week that adds to what I like to call the sober group of discussions about the Detroit Institute of Art collection in the context of the City of Detroit Bankruptcy. From a learned perspective, Professor Levitin echoes some of the themes we’ve addressed here so far, namely:
Salon Piece Confirms Primacy of State Law in Detroit Bankruptcy Dispute
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 23, 2013 at 1:08 AM
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Topics: Adam J. Levitin, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Collections, Detroit Bankruptcy
City of Detroit Hires Christie's to Appraise Detroit Institute of Arts Collection
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 5, 2013 at 11:47 AM
In connection with the Detroit bankruptcy, auction house Christie's announced on Monday that it has been hired to "assist and advise on how to realize value for the city while leaving the art in the city's ownership." According to the Christie's press release, the auction house was hired by the City of Detroit itself, which has floated the idea before (and which the museum itself has opposed publicly).
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Topics: Christie's, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Collections, Museums, Detroit Bankruptcy
Detroit Institute of Arts Deaccessioning: Municipal Bankruptcy, Existing and Proposed Changes to Michigan Law Affect Debate
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 5, 2013 at 6:20 AM
An important qualifier to the discussion about deaccessioning and the Detroit Institute of Arts is that although DIA is a subdivision of the bankruptcy debtor (Detroit), that debtor is not any old commercial entity. Rather, Detroit is a municipality, and municipal and state debtors are governed by slightly different rules than private parties.
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Topics: Legislation, Donn Zaretsky, Deaccession, Chapter 9, 11 U.S.C. § 904, Public Trust, Attorney General of Michigan, Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Bankruptcy, Collections, Bankruptcy Code, Association of Art Museum Directors, Bill Schuette, Detroit Emergency City Manager, Kevyn Orr, Museums, Detroit Bankruptcy, AAMD
Detroit Institute of Arts and Motor City Bankruptcy: Deaccessioning Fact and Fiction, Hope and Reality
Posted by
Nicholas O'Donnell on August 1, 2013 at 12:27 PM
The recent filing by the City of Detroit for bankruptcy—the largest such municipal filing in history—has brought with it an unexpected art law twist. Namely: to what extent can, or should the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts be used to satisfy the city’s creditors. As one might expect, the differences between what the city can do, what it should do, and what others can do to influence that decision have become hard to distinguish as the volume is raised. A review of some of the issues involved and the governing principles is in order. As rumors of the city’s bankruptcy circulated, speculation began about what would happen to the collection of DIA. And thus the dreaded “deaccession” debate began. This debate is essentially as follows: is art a fungible commodity that can and/or should be used in whatever way advances the mission of the institution (including selling it and using the proceeds to finance the museum’s operations), or do museums hold art in a public trust that must prioritize the collection and display of art? The latter view certainly holds sway among many in the museum community as an aspirational mattter, but its enforceability is often far less than they think.
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Topics: National Academy Museum, Brandeis, Deaccession, American Alliance of Museums, Rose Art Museum, AAM, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Collections, Association of Art Museum Directors, Motor City, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Cleveland Museum of Art, Detroit Bankruptcy, AAMD, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
