Judge Denies Detroit Creditors’ Bid for New Art Assessment

The judge in Detroit’s bankruptcy case has rejected a demand by creditors for a new evaluation of the Detroit Institute of Arts holdings and raised questions about whether works from the museum can legally be sold to satisfy the city’s debts, writes the Detroit Free Press.

A city-commissioned assessment by the auction house Christie’s estimated the value of some 2,800 works purchased with municipal funds at $454-million to $867-million. Creditors who have pursued an art sale to pay off city debts contend Christie’s significantly undervalued the works and sought an independent evaluation of the museum’s entire collection of 66,000 pieces.

When a lawyer for one creditors group said during Wednesday’s hearing that the art is “in play” as part of repayment efforts, Judge Steven Rhodes said that “is not altogether clear to me at all.” The judge called an opinion by Michigan’s attorney general that the museum’s art cannot be sold to pay creditors a “serious argument” that he would consider.