Corcoran to Pay $48-Million in Deal With National Gallery and GWU

Washington’s Corcoran Gallery of Art will pay $48-million from its endowment to finance a pact that will see the venerable private museum’s collection, building, and art and design college taken over by other institutions, reports The Washington Post.

The Corcoran, the National Gallery of Art, and George Washington University signed documents Thursday finalizing the arrangement announced in February for the National Gallery to take possession of the Corcoran’s 17,000 works and the university to manage its historic Beaux-Arts building and school of art and design.

The 145-year-old Corcoran has suffered chronic fiscal problems, including annual multimillion-dollar deficits. Interim President Peggy Loar said it had no alternative but to turn over its museum and education mission to more financially healthy entities. The plan must still win court approval because it involves a dramatic change in an independent nonprofit’s chartered operations.

The Corcoran’s financial commitment to implementing the deal will be funded largely with the proceeds of a $40-million sale last year of Persian rugs. Because the Corcoran will no longer be a museum, it will not be bound by ethical guidelines that revenue from art sales be used to pay for new acquisitions, Ms. Loar said.