De-accessioning in France?
January 7 2015
Picture: BG
A committee of French legislators looking into the national debt has sought the opinion of the head of Sotheby's in France for his view on whether de-accessioning should be allowed. He said yes, of course:
'Action is needed to tackle the grotesque waste in national collections. In the Louvre alone, some 250,000 works are currently hidden away in overflow rooms.
'Museums should also be given the option of selling works that have been in public collections for at least 50 years.'
More here.
Meanwhile, Art Daily reports that the Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, with 9.3m visitors a year. It's good that the Louvre's new director, Jean-Luc Martinez, is adding another two entrances to cope with the numbers.
More than half the Louvre's visitors, says the museum, are under 30 - which is impressive, and a nice riposte to those who always assume high art is not for younger people.
