Jefferson University Plans to Sell Its Other Two Eakinses

The other shoe has just dropped: Robert L. Barchi, president of Thomas Jefferson University, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the medical school intends to sell the two remaining Eakins paintings in its collection: "Portrait of Benjamin H. Rand" and "Portrait of William S. Forbes."

Peter Dobrin reports that Barchi issued this statement:

We do not intend to sell any of our artworks other than the Eakins paintings, even if approached. While the mission of Thomas Jefferson University as an academic health center does not include the acquisition or display of artworks, we will continue to honor our tradition of commissioning portraits of Jefferson's distinguished faculty and maintain our current artworks.

They''ll "honor their tradition," except in the case of their most pricey masterpieces. This time, if anyone comes to the rescue, it should be those most concerned about honoring tradtion: incensed alums of the university, some of whom were vocal in their distress over the "Gross Clinic" sale. Failing that, local museums should be given a more realistic time frame to come up with an offer: a minimum of 90 days.

Philadelphia museums just can't keep competing (as they tried to do with The Gross Clinic) with market levels set by the likes of Alice Walton and other money-no-object collectors.