ABOVE: Detail from Madonna of the Pinks (1506-7), reputedly a Raphael, from the collection of the National Gallery in London, a controversial acquisition on the NG’s part.

Rupert Christiansen wrote yesterday in the Telegraph about the trend at public and private galleries toward “deaccessioning” artworks in their collection—selling less relevant or seldom-displayed pieces in order to finance new acquisitions. Christiansen sees a rising problem of institutions selling off works for no reason other than cashflow problems, such as the Buxton Art Gallery in Derbyshire apparently did several years ago.

He argues halfheartedly in favour of the American model, in which institutions sell works primarily for the purpose of buying new ones, but is more concerned that valuable pieces of the historical record are being lost or going into private collections because large public institutions don’t have the cash or the room to look after them.

LINK: Telegraph > the quick-fix threat to our cabinets of curiosities