Valparaiso University in Indiana has closed the Brauer Museum of Art and removed its director, Jonathan Canning, amid controversy about intentions to sell important art pieces from its collection.
The university announced late last week that it was part of an "administrative restructuring" to resolve the school's increasing operations deficit of $9 million and declining enrollment.
Valparaiso University received criticisms last year after revealing that it would sell three of the most precious paintings in the museum worth more than $20 million to fund renovations of freshman dormitories.
The painting 'Rust Red Hills' (1930) by Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the pieces the university is trying to sell. It was the Brauer's second acquisition.
The university estimated its value to be around $15 million, making it the most valuable of the three pieces. Childe Hassam's Silver Vale and Golden Gate was valued at $3.5 million, while Frederic Edwin Church's Mountain Landscape was estimated to be worth $2 million.
After the news of the proposed sale, the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance of Museums condemned the plan.
Former museum director Richard Brauer and former law professor Philipp Brockington sued Valparaiso University to stop the sale, claiming the proposal went beyond the conditions of the original gift agreement between the university and Percy H. Sloan. Sloan formed the acquisition fund and donated the artwork to the Church, which was used to purchase Hassam and O'Keeffe's pieces in the 1960s.
Valparaiso University said in a court appeal that the three artworks have grown too valuable to maintain security, citing earlier this year's Mona Lisa climate protests. The university claimed hiring professional guards instead of students would increase the art museum's annual staffing costs by $150,000 and projected that security improvements would cost between $50,000 and $100,000. The institution further claimed that the storage fees for the paintings were unnecessary because of its current financial situation.
According to Art Daily, the local community was surprised by the museum's closing just after the debut of 'America the Beautiful,' a summer exhibition featuring Impressionist paintings from Brauer's permanent collection.
