The Nassau County Museum of Art sold eight of its paintings last fall at a Sotheby’s auction, a move art patrons say lacked transparency and has left them distrustful of the museum’s handling of its art.
“So what if they made some money, a tenth of what those works are really worth,” said an auction expert who has loaned works to the museum. “ I know I will never loan them art or give them money ever again.”
Museum Executive Director Beth Horn said the sale followed Art Museum Directors Association regulations and guidelines. She said that while the museum did not publicize the sale, it did list the pieces in the auction as part of its collection to be transparent.
“There was nothing hidden at all,” Horn said.
She added the museum is devoted to serving the community, and its sales were made to uphold this.
“Every step that we take is for the benefit of Nassau County and every adult, every child who visits the museum and wants to discover the world of art that exists here,” Horn said. “Everything that we do is for the betterment of the collection, is to improve what work we do. Our fundamental mission is to serve the community.”
The museum sold eight paintings in September and November through Sotheby’s, a worldwide art and luxury auction house.
Paintings sold include Louis Valtat’s “Dahlias et coloquintes” for $72,000, Pierre Bonnard’s “Méditerranée” for $120,000, Fernando Botero’s “The House of Ana Molina” for $1.128 million and Helen Frankenthaler’s “Tight Rope” for $360,000.
Horn said these pieces were selected by staff and the museum’s Board of Trustees because they were rarely exhibited and not slated to be shown in the future.
The sale’s proceeds totaled $1.888 million.
Horn said the purpose of the sale was to care for its current collection and purchase new pieces. A portion of the sale has gone toward the purchase of 12 Louis Comfort Tiffany works, including seven oil paintings, four glass vases and one historic photograph as part of its Tiffany collection.
An auction expert who has loaned works from his collection to the museum in the past, said the sale cheated Nassau County taxpayers and undersold the pieces. The expert asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution by the museum.
“I can’t believe how stupid the museum was, because like any desperate seller liquidating assets they got pennies on the dollar,” the expert said. “They put those works up for sale in an online auction in the weakest market for five decades with ridiculously low reserve prices and most only had one bid.”
Horn said the pieces sold at or above their estimates and above their reserves. The auction expert called the sale a “short-sighted move.”
While de-accessioning, or selling an item from a permanent collection is a practice done by most museums, an art expert said it must be done with transparency through communication with all of its stakeholders.
In the case of the Nassau Art Museum, stakeholders include the Nassau County Parks Department, which oversees the museum property and provides funding and services, as well as the taxpayers whose taxes go towards the museum.
Charles A. Riley II, the former museum director and an international curator, told Schneps Media Long Island he learned of the sale through a fellow collector. Riley was removed from his position as museum director in September 2023 after the museum opted to not renew his contract after serving for six years.
Riley called the sale a shame.
“It was embarrassing to hear about it,” Riley said in an email. “When I left the building (more accurately, locked out overnight), we had Modigliani, Picasso and Matisse on the wall, a great relationship with Bruce Blakeman and the county, a balanced budget and happy members and volunteers. The taxpayers of Nassau County deserve a good and honest museum they can trust. I think they are owed a big, fat apology.”
