Philadelphia Arts Groups Race to Raise $68-Million

The race to raise $68-million by December 26 to buy a Thomas Eakins painting has forced several Philadelphia institutions to perform balancing acts, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The painting in question, “The Gross Clinic,” is being sold by Thomas Jefferson University. The painting was scheduled to leave Philadelphia after it was sold to a partnership between an Arkansas museum and the National Gallery of Art, in Washington. Under the terms of that sale, Philadelphia organizations have 45 days to match the sale price and keep the painting in the city.

A coalition of groups has formed to raise the money, but many are also conducting capital campaigns of their own. The Philadelphia Art Museum, which is one of two groups spearheading the Eakins fund-raising drive, is currently waging a $500-million expansion campaign. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is completing a $35-million building project.