Standards and Guidelines
Resolution Concerning the Sale and Exchange of Works of Art by Museums
Adopted by the CAA Board of Directors on November 3, 1973; reaffirmed on June 17, 1991.
1. The College Art Association, a national organization which includes in its membership artists, art historians, curators, collectors, dealers, and critics, is primarily concerned with scholarship and the teaching of the history and the practice of art. This concern necessarily extends to the acquisition, conservation, display, interpretation, and disposal of works of art by museums, as well as to the availability of relevant information about works of art in public collections. Because of this concern, recent developments in the movement of works of art from public to private collections and from collections in the United States to others abroad have made it imperative to develop this resolution.
2. Objects in tax-exempt institutions are held in trust for the public. In this sense they are the cultural property of the public, both present and future. Therefore, every attempt should be made to keep significant works of art, existing in museums, accessible to the public.
3. It is recognized that museum collections occasionally may be strengthened by the wise and constructive sale and exchange of previously acquired works of art, and that sale and exchange may be necessitated by the specialized or particular nature of some American museums. Nevertheless, certain principles of sale and exchange are applicable to all museums and should be followed if the present educational value of public collections is to be preserved and enlarged.
4. If the work to be removed from a collection would be a desirable acquisition for another public institution, full consideration should be given to making the work directly available for acquisition by such an institution.
5. Procedures for the sale or exchange by museums of a work of art should be far more stringent than those for acquisition. While an acquired work remains in the collection and can be subjected to revised judgment as to its quality and value, a work disposed of can normally be given no second consideration by the museum concerned. Every museum should have clearly formulated policies concerning the sale or exchange of works of art, and such policies should be available to the public. The requirement of at least two-thirds favorable vote by the trustees would be an advisable stipulation of such policies.
6. The Board of Directors or Trustees of a museum carries overall responsibility for its general health. Trustees must, however, invest the professional staff with the primary responsibility for developing the judgments involved in the disposal of a specific work of art. Obviously it is impossible for all museums to have staff experts in all fields. Curators and directors should seek out the best possible advice, consulting recognized experts in the specific field concerned. Even when such specialists are on the museum’s staff, it may be advantageous to consult outside experts, both scholars and artists, on the advisability of the action, its impact on the public and the scholarly community, and the correctness of the market assessment. While dealers may be involved in the sale or exchange of works of art from a museum collection, they might serve best as agents rather than purchasers.
7. Collections must be considered in terms of their lasting values, and every care should be taken not to allow judgments to be swayed by fluctuations of market values or changing tastes. Moreover, works of art should be considered for sale or exchange only for the purpose of expanding or increasing the importance of the collection, not for operating expenses or building funds.
8. Museums should not accept donations that carry with them conditions they cannot reasonably expect to honor. Removals should be permitted only where no legal obligations imposed by the donor are in force; where moral obligations are involved they must be evaluated within a moral context. Consultation with near relatives or locatable heirs is always a generous and wise procedure and should include a consideration of the use of the donor’s name for the new acquisition.
9. It is important that the disposal of works of art should not inhibit the advancement of scholarly knowledge. When a work of art, after due consideration, has been removed from a museum collection, that museum should retain a full file on the work and continue to make it available to scholars on request. Each file should include photographs, laboratory reports, and full information on the disposition of the work. We believe that it is in the interest of dealers to advance scholarly knowledge concerning works of art, and therefore expect them to cooperate in providing information if they are party to disposal transactions. Further, informative statements concerning the sale or exchange of works of art should routinely be included in the periodic public reports of museums. More detailed information should be available on request.
