HAGGERTY ON THE BRINK WITH PAINTING SALE

[UPDATE Thursday, May 8th, 2008-- The Brink piece sold for $480, including buyer's premium. --Ed.]


Bids Start at $400 for Deaccessioned Guido Brink Painting

Guido Brink
(German, 1913-2002)
Pilgrimage to Black Madonna
mixed media
48 x 36 inches.
Estimate $ 800-1,200

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

and the MilwaukeeWorld Hound Dog Team

The Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University is offering a mixed media work entitled "Pilgimage to Black Madonna" by artist Guido Brink (1913-2002) in the April 27th sale of paintings to be held at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers Chicago. The deaccessioned piece bears a pre-sale estimate of $800 to $1,200, which makes you wonder why the University is bothering to dispose of the work, and brings forth a host of other questions. The bidding is expected to start at $400, or half the low estimate.
The first question deals with the perennially thorny issue of deaccessioning -- the process of disposing of items from a collection. Every accredited museum, including the Haggerty, develops a deaccessioning policy to handle the orderly disposal of artworks. The deaccession policies of the American Association of Museums stipulate that the "disposal of collections through sale, trade, or research activities is solely for the advancement of the museum's mission. Proceeds from the sale of nonliving collections are to be used consistent with the established standards of the museum's discipline, but in no event shall they be used for anything other than acquisition or direct care of collections."
Unless the Black Madonna sells for a very large multiple of its highest estimate it is inconceivable that the proceeds could do much of anything to advance the "acquisition or direct care of collections" at the Haggerty.
If the painting sells for $1,000, Hindman would take a commission of, say, $200, to be conservative. That leaves $800 for the Haggerty, before such expenses as shipping (let's say another $200) and the staff time to do whatever it is that is done when a painting is sold by a museum. Let's be conservative again, and assume that could be taken care of in 10 hours at an average $20 per hour, what with factoring in the director's time and salary into the average. So the museum might net $400 from the deal -- enough to buy new energy-efficient bulbs for the janitor's closets. If the Haggerty sends staff to Chicago to watch the hammer come down on the sale, then all bets are off, and the school will take a loss on the transaction.
Another consideration is the effect sales can have in the solicitation of future gifts. This is yet another branch of the thorny deaccession topic. People may be hesitant to offer their art to a museum if it is likely it will be sold at a discount once they're dead -- and especially if before they're dead. Brink and his wife Ello Brink themselves made numerous donations to the Haggerty during their lives. The museum also hosted a 2002 show of his works entitled "Guido Brink: Fifty Years of Painting", which included the Black Madonna. In the catalogue we learn the 1962 acrylic on velvet and polyester on plywood assemblage was donated by Susan and Ted Alevizos. Both are prominent folk music scholars. Ted performed on early albums with Joan Baez. We'll try to track them down, and see what their feeling is about the fire sale of their painting.
Furthermore, there is the Chicago issue. Leslie Hindman's auction house is one of the larger ones in the country, and probably the largest not on either coast. Many institutions like the Milwaukee Art Museum have used Hindman to sell their deaccessioned items, reckoning that a larger market can bring a higher price. That orthodoxy is not always correct in the case of regional artists like Brink who would most likely command a higher price in Milwaukee where his work is known, and where the bulk of his collectors live.
Also, there must be some concern that Hindman is simply slapping the thing up on an easel and hoping it sells. The auction listing for the piece identifies Brink as German, which is true as to his birth, but he was a U.S. citizen and spent the last 49 years of his life in Milwaukee, where he taught hundreds of students, was artist-in-residence at Super Steel, and did such odds and ends as founding what is now known as The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design [MIAD]. Hindman's catalogue does not list the date of the piece, as is customary, or its provenance prior to the Haggerty's acquisition, so it's not like her research gives one much confidence, especially when coupled with the low estimate.
Milwaukeeworld has e-mailed the Haggerty with its concerns, and for good measure sent a note to retired museum founder and current Marquette scholar Dr. Curtis L. Carter for his take on the situation.
This little bit of "Brinksmanship" is disturbing. If the Haggerty is hard up for cash, the museum could sell a couple hundred square feet of the 1983 mural - construction fence it commissioned from Keith Haring while it was being built. The Haggerty could peddle a couple of panels at $1,000 per square foot, and still have plenty of mural left over.

THE HAGGERTY DIRECTOR'S RESPONSE

Haggerty Museum director Wally Mason wrote this response to the above post:

Dear Mr. Horne:

A central function of the Haggerty Patrick & Beatrice Museum of Art is to acquire works and to maintain them for posterity. Works are added that have aesthetic and historical significance, are appropriate to the museum's holdings and its ability to properly care for the works, are deemed to be of value for instructional or research purposes, or serve a worthy public interest.

The permanent collection of the Haggerty Museum has historically reflected a wide-ranging, eclectic selection of holdings. The long-term vision of the museum is to focus more heavily on works on paper with the intention of regularly exhibiting more of the permanent collection.

The removal of any object from the collection is carried out with the utmost care and concern, initiated by the director in consultation with the curatorial staff and conducted in accordance with the American Association of Museum's Code of Ethics and Professional Practices in Art Museums. Objects to be deaccessioned must be deemed without instructional merit, unrelated to the museum's collection, or less significant than other, similar works in the collection.

The last significant deaccessioning carried out by the Haggerty took place more than 10 years ago. In 1997, 249 objects were removed for sale at auction. Such periodic review ensures attention to the primary focus of the permanent collection, alleviates space constraints in the museum, and provides funding for future acquisitions. All funds received as a result of the sales of deaccessioned works are placed in an art acquisition fund that is drawn on to purchase significant works in the original donor's name(s).

In the case of Guido Brink's Pilgrimage to Black Madonna, the work was deaccessioned for a combination of reasons: The other six pieces in the collection are stronger examples of Brink's work. It isn't a piece that could effectively be displayed elsewhere on campus because of its materials. It's plaster on velvet, which is very susceptible to damage.

Sincerely,

Wally Mason

[In response to the response, milwaukeeworld has asked Director Mason to identify all artworks selected for deaccessioning during the current round.--Ed.]