Pa. University Sells Painting to Ark. Museum

After Philadelphia philanthropists fought to save a beloved painting from being sold to an Arkansas museum, Thomas Jefferson University has sold a second artwork by Thomas Eakins to the museum, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art — in Bentonville, Ark., and financed by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton — bought for an undisclosed sum a portrait of Benjamin H. Rand, a teacher and professor, that was painted in 1874 by Mr. Eakins. Sources familiar with the sale say the amount was around $20-million.

The money “will be used to support the mission of the university and the implementation of its new strategic plan,” university officials said in a statement.

Alumni and Philadelphians protested loudly last year when the university announced plans to sell The Gross Clinic, an Eakins work that many considered to be a symbol of Thomas Jefferson University. Philanthropists and foundations eventually put up $68-million to buy the work and keep it in the city.