As a financial matter, the Phillips Collection’s decision to sell three works of art at auction on Thursday would have to rate as a success.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s sensuous 1927 oil on canvas “Large Dark Red Leaves on White” drew nearly $8 million at Sotheby’s.
A work by George Seurat and one by Arthur Dove together brought in more than $5 million for the Washington, D.C., museum that was built atop the collecting legacy of the philanthropist Duncan Phillips.
But whatever the monetary gain, the decision to sell established works from the collection to finance the acquisition of more contemporary art has caused considerable turmoil within the 104-year-old institution that is housed in the family’s former mansion.
Three board members have stepped down in response to how the sale was handled, and members of the Phillips family have expressed their concern over the auctions, which will include seven additional works.
“It’s a sad day to see these paintings which have been loved for so long leave the collection,” said Liza Phillips, a granddaughter of the museum’s founder, Duncan Phillips, and his wife, Marjorie. “This hasn’t happened this way in the past at all.”
Museums routinely cull their collections for works that are considered duplicative, or inferior to others by the same artist. Storing and maintaining works of art is costly for institutions and they cannot financially afford to keep adding without occasionally subtracting.
These efforts often prompt public outcry and second-guessing, but the reactions here have been stronger than usual, in part because they come from the founder’s own family members.
Jonathan P. Binstock, the museum’s director who spearheaded the sale, said it would help the Phillips to evolve, to respond to changing times and to connect with current audiences.
“We are a collection of artists as much as we are a collection of artworks, and the artists associated with the Phillips constitute a kind of family,” he said. “We want to add to this family. We want to honor the key organizing principle of the collection. By expanding that family, we’re very excited to bring new artists into the fold.”
“I’m thinking about the future,” he added. “This is for the long-term strength of the Phillips Collection.”
These sentiments have not persuaded some members of the museum’s advisory group, established in 1985, which consists of Phillips family members, former Phillips employees and art historians.
“No other director had done this before,” said Alice Phillips Swistel, Liza’s cousin, who served as chairwoman of the group for about 20 years. “So it was sort of a shocker for all of us.
“We were all depressed that they were going to go into some crypto guy’s vault,” she added, “and never be out in the public again.”
Robert Storr, an art historian, critic and former dean at the Yale School of Art, who recently joined the advisory board, registered his opposition in a letter to the board of trustees. “Selling off the family silver is not a strategy for prolonging and increasing its fortunes,” Storr wrote, urging that the Phillips “consider rescinding this absurd gambit.”
“The drawing by Seurat is a gem, period, without equal and without a comparable example anywhere in his oeuvre to my knowledge,” he added. “The Georgia O’Keeffe belongs to a group of early works by her that I thought were valued as core examples of her development, but which are being treated as ‘interchangeable assets.’”
The museum was founded by Duncan Phillips and his mother, Eliza Laughlin Phillips, in late 1918 and was originally called the Phillips Memorial Art Gallery.
It opened to the public in 1921 with a 237-work collection that grew to include artists who were lesser-known at the time, such as Milton Avery, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Jacob Lawrence and O’Keeffe. The museum now holds 6,000 works.
When the Phillips was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1985, Lachlan Phillips, Duncan and Marjorie’s son, had written that his father always wanted the family to remain part of overseeing the collection to keep the spirit of the founders. So he created what the Phillips refers to as the advisory “members” group of 11 people, as opposed to the 35-member governing board of trustees, which has fiduciary responsibility. Only one “member” also serves on the main board — Liza Phillips.
Among the complaints has been the view that the sale plan was not adequately presented to the audiences entrusted with protecting the museum’s legacy.
In an interview, Binstock, who became director in March 2023, disputed that assertion and emphasized that the discussion regarding the sales had been deliberative and thorough.
“The process was paced and took place over months and months and multiple discussions,” Binstock said. “Every ‘i’ was dotted, every ‘t’ was crossed and the members were involved every step of the way.”
Binstock added that, as a compromise to show good faith to those who opposed the sales, the museum agreed to expand the number of works in the Core Collection, which are protected in the articles of incorporation and cannot be deaccessioned except by a board vote and two-thirds approval from the members group. Only 500 works had been given this protection. Now the number is 2,000.
“We have amended our articles of incorporation and updated our bylaws to reflect this change,” Binstock said.
The Seurat that was sold, “Clowns et poney” (1883-84), is a precursor to his Pointillist masterwork “Parade de cirque,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “This is a really important Seurat drawing that meant a lot to Duncan,” Swistel said. “He couldn’t afford to buy the big painting like the Met, but he was able to get this drawing.”
The last time the museum deaccessioned, or sold, a work, Liza Phillips said, was in 1987 when her father was director; the piece was one by Georges Braque that had not been collected by Duncan and Marjorie Phillips themselves.
One of the artists Binstock was eager to commission was Isaac Julien, those involved said, who has been known to make lavish multiscreen installations. Some of the members were concerned about how much it would cost to commission such an ambitious work — the Phillips has a relatively modest annual operating budget of $17 million — and argued that people come to the Phillips to see classic pieces by the likes of Bonnard and Paul Cézanne.
“It’s not that we’re old curmudgeons — we care about contemporary artists, too,” Swistel said. “But it’s not really what people come to the Phillips for.”
Robin Pogrebin, who has been a reporter for The Times for 30 years, covers arts and culture.
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