Museum deaccessioning

An update to the Charities Act coming into force over the next year will allow museums in the UK to deaccession some items.

William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, often referred to as the ‘First Folio’, is regarded as the greatest work of the English language.

A large jade brushpot from the Qing Dynasty is expected to lead a collection of more than 300 Chinese works of art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art going under the hammer at Sotheby’s New York this September.

Hertfordshire County Council is going ahead with the auction of artworks from its collection this week despite the launch of a petition to ‘save’ it from being dispersed.

A total of 18 phones competed for a rare devotional painting offered by a New York institution at Freeman’s in Philadelphia this week.

Pictures by Mod Brit artists including Barbara Hepworth and Julian Trevelyan will go under the hammer at Cambridge auction house Cheffins following a council’s decision to offload artworks from storage.

Lamps designed by surrealist artist Salvador Dalí have been blocked from export in the hope a buyer can be found to pay £440,000 to keep them in the UK.

A painting thought to be a copy of a Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) portrait when it was deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art will now be offered at Christie’s in London with a full attribution. It will carry an estimate of £3m-5m.

Museums in the UK have been selling off their collections and have been unable to buy new works of art due to funding issues, a “deeply depressing” report has revealed.

A Salvador Dalí Mae West lips sofa has been blocked from export in the hope a buyer can be found to pay nearly £500,000 to keep it in the UK.

A painting by George Stubbs previously believed to be a copy will be offered by The Parker Gallery at BADA 2017 opening in Chelsea this week.

Christie’s New York have announced the sale of more than 30 pieces of Chinese art from Osaka’s Fujita Museum which will be offered at auction next year.

Antiquities from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio are to be offered at Christie’s in New York this month to benefit the Museum’s acquisitions fund.

Christie’s are to sell another major slice of deaccessioned material from the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, just under a year after they held a dedicated auction devoted to a dispersal from the Met’s holdings of English furniture and works of art.

Leading specialists in antique furniture have joined a campaign to preserve a touchstone collection of Gillows furniture ahead of multiple museum closures in Lancashire.

A fresh warning has gone out to UK museums and galleries that they could face future funding cuts if they sell items from their collections.

Stronger sanctions against museums that sell off items from their collections donated by the public are being considered.

The Arts Council and other museum authorities have drawn up new guidelines for councils thinking of selling off artworks to raise funds amid sharp budget cuts.