What’s DIA artwork worth? New Christie’s report has the numbers
By Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
These revered masterpieces are the three most valuable paintings housed at the
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The report, which Orr's office intends to release today, lists itemized appraisals for nearly 1,750 works with an estimated worth more than
The possible sale of DIA art remains among the most controversial issues in the city's bankruptcy. Christie's final report, which arrives as Orr prepares to issue his plan for restructuring city finances in early January, represents an unprecedented public accounting of the value of an American museum's holdings. The report promises to reverberate in the legal maneuvering between the city and its creditors while sending shock waves through the art world.
The aggregate worth of the appraised art is
In municipal bankruptcy, neither U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
"It could give more grist to the mill at the objection stage to Orr's plan," said O'Donnell.
Creditors also complain that by instructing Christie's to evaluate only 5% of the collection, Orr was unfairly excluding what experts believe is billions of dollars of city-owned art. Orr included only works bought with city funds -- mostly between 1920 and 1930 when the city was flush with auto money -- because they would be easier to sell than those donated to the museum or bought with other funds that might include legal restrictions against selling.
"We understood that everything was on the table based on
The art world has been monitoring the DIA saga with a combination of horror and the can't-take-your-eyes-off-it fascination of a car crash.
Those who believe the art should be sold will see it as a shopping list, she said, threatening the DIA's collection and sending shivers through the entire museum world, where a bedrock principle is that art is held in the public trust and can't be sold to defray an institution's debts.
Rosenbaum also said the figures will immediately spark a firestorm of controversy as various players debate whether the values are too high or too low. Finally, she cited a "slippery slope factor" in which other cities, universities and even trustees at other museums could look at the sale of art in
"What happens in
The DIA has vowed to fight in court a forced sale of art or any plan to monetize the collection by using it as collateral for a loan or other means. Museum leaders say a forced sale would permanently cripple the DIA, causing donors to flee and pushing county leaders to repeal the property tax that now makes up some 70% of the museum's budget. Museum officials declined to comment on the specifics of Christie's report and reiterated its long-held public stance that "the
Evaluating the prices of fine art can be elusive, especially the one-of-a-kind treasures like the DIA's Bruegel, for which few or no recent comparable sales can be found in the marketplace. Estimates can vary by tens of millions of dollars. In May, the
At the other extreme, the
Art advisers have told the
Fair market value is defined by the
Christie's final report comes as leaders from the DIA are in talks with federal mediators and a consortium of national and local charitable foundations. The foundations have been asked to contribute about
Christie's final report also includes the list of five suggestions for monetizing the art that don't involve selling and that the auction house detailed previously. These range from using art as collateral to finding a museum partner for a long-term lease, creating a "masterpiece trust" accessible to a museum consortium and selling works to philanthropists who would permanently loan them back to the DIA. Museum officials have rejected these as impractical, putting the art at risk or insufficient to providing the
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