Del. Museum Confirms More Art Sales to Ease Debt

The Delaware Art Museum, which was sanctioned by two national museum organizations earlier this year for auctioning off a painting to buttress its shaky finances, has put two more major works up for sale, reports The News Journal of Wilmington and The New York Times.

Gerret Copeland, chairman of the museum’s board, confirmed Thursday that it is seeking buyers for an 1875 Winslow Homer painting and an Alexander Calder mobile. The works will be sold at auction this fall if the museum cannot find private purchasers.

Officials at the Wilmington museum announced plans in March to sell as many as four pieces, saying the institution faced closure without a large cash infusion to pay down a $19.8-million in construction debt and replenish its endowment. The museum sold an 1868 work by English painter William Holman Hunt for $4.25-million in June, drawing rebukes from the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance of Museums.