| Anschutz and the DAM Eakins Purchase |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Thursday, 24 April 2008 | |
 Thomas Eakins' "Cowboy Singing" purchased by the privately owned Anschutz Collection and the Denver Art Museum While not my home town, I've spent many years in and around Philly and try to stay current on the local news. Here's a Philadelphia Enquirer article that bridges Philly's art and politics with Denver's art and big money. Seems that Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton wanted to buy a piece of Philly history—Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic"—and move it to a museum Walton was creating in her native Arkansas. The sale of the piece by Thomas Jefferson University for $68 million was seen as an outrage by locals who vowed to raise the money to keep the painting at home. Led by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, some (arguably not) less desirable Eakins paintings were sold to raise funds for the Gross Clinic purchase, the latest (and final) being a western-themed work "Cowboy Singing" which was purchased jointly by local Billionaire Phil Anschutz and the Denver Art Museum, along with two sketches which served as studies for the painting. From the article: RMN's Mary Voelz Chandler: 'Cowboy Singing' masterpiece will grace Denver Art Museum Denver Post: Art museum, Anschutz purchase Eakins piece NY Times: Philadelphia Raises Enough Money to Retain a Masterpiece by Eakins UPDATED 7/11/08: Seems the purchase and the sharing agreement between Anschutz and the DAM has raised eyebrows at the Association of Art Museum Directors. Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog Modern Art Notes goes into great detail on the controversy. |
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