The New York Times reports on the controversial decision made by the Delaware Art Museum to put two pieces up for sale. The first is “Milking Time” (1875), a painting by Winslow Homer, will be sold at a Sotheby’s auction this fall or possibly sooner, if the museum can find a private buyer. An Alexander Calder mobile titled “The Black Crescent” will also be put up for sale. In hopes of clearing some of its $19.8 million debt, the museum has already sold a William Holman Hunt canvas this past spring, a decision for which it received censure from other institutions and the Association of American Art Directors.  (more…)

The Getty Institute has announced that it will purchase the former Knoedler Gallery’s complete archives. Before the gallery was mired in lawsuits and closed its doors, it was an 165-year old institution whose client roster included Paul Mellon, Henry Clay Frick and Robert Sterling Clark. It exhibited and sold work by van Gogh, Manet, Winslow Homer, Frederic Church, John Singer Sargent, Louise Bourgeois, Willem de Kooning and Barnett Newman, among others. The well-preserved archive includes stock books, sales books, photos and illustrated letters from artists and collectors. (more…)