The moral maze of museum management
The case for giving back stolen art is strong. For refusing tainted donations, less so
IT DIDN’T TAKE much. A theatrical “die-in” at the New York Guggenheim Museum in February; a threat by Nan Goldin, a photographer, to pull her works from the National Portrait Gallery in London; a warning of unspecified “guerrilla actions” against British museums. Since mid-March the Guggenheim, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate galleries have all cracked. None will accept future gifts from the Sackler family, prolific philanthropists who own Purdue Pharma, a firm that created an opioid, OxyContin, and claimed it was not terribly addictive.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Culture vultures”
From the March 30th 2019 edition
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