The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. is moving forward with controversial plans to sell significant artworks by Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, and Georges Seurat at Sotheby's next week, despite facing intense criticism from former curators, Phillips family members, and a substantial portion of the museum's governing board. The decision has sparked a heated debate about the institution's future direction and the preservation of its founder's original vision.
The works, which have long been considered central to founder Duncan Phillips's collection, will be offered at Sotheby's November 20 evening sale at the auction house's new headquarters in the Breuer building on Madison Avenue. O'Keeffe's "Large Dark Red Leaves on White" (1925) carries the highest estimate at $6 million to $8 million, while Seurat's conté crayon drawing is expected to sell for $3 million to $5 million. Dove's "Rose and Locust Stump" (1943) rounds out the major lots with an estimate of $1.2 million to $1.8 million.
Director and CEO Jonathan Binstock, who joined the Phillips in March 2023, has defended the sales by arguing that proceeds will fund a permanently restricted endowment specifically designated for commissioning new works by living artists. Binstock contends that this strategy aligns with Duncan Phillips's historical commitment to supporting contemporary artists, pointing to the founder's decades-long financial backing of Arthur Dove as evidence of this philosophy. "Duncan Phillips did not imagine the museum as trapped in amber," Binstock stated, describing the institution as being "in its adolescence" and emphasizing the need to expand representation of living artists to attract broader audiences.
However, critics have voiced strong opposition to the deaccession plans, warning that the sales will dismantle carefully curated groupings of key artists that were assembled by Duncan and Marjorie Phillips over decades. Eliza Rathbone, the museum's chief curator emerita, expressed her dismay, stating, "I'm deeply saddened and appalled." She noted that since the founder's tenure, "no one has ever suggested deaccessioning masterworks acquired by Duncan Phillips." Liza Phillips, the founder's granddaughter and chair of the members board, has also voiced concerns, arguing that "the works belong to the public and will likely go into private hands."
The dispute, which has been simmering for more than 18 months, reached a resolution last week when the trustees and members boards reached an agreement that permits next week's sales to proceed while implementing stricter future deaccessioning rules. Under the new guidelines, the core collection will be defined by "The Phillips Collection: A Summary Catalogue" (1985), a much more comprehensive publication than the museum's previous benchmark, "The Eye of Duncan Phillips" (1999). Works listed in the 1985 catalogue cannot be sold without special exception, providing greater protection for the museum's foundational pieces.
The upcoming auctions extend well beyond the three headline works that have generated the most controversy. Sotheby's will also offer pieces from the Phillips collection by contemporary and modern artists including Anish Kapoor, Leland Bell, and Howard Mehring on November 19, while a Henri Fantin-Latour still life will be sold on November 21. Additionally, a Picasso sculpture and a Milton Avery work on paper are scheduled to appear in later sales, indicating the scope of the museum's deaccessioning efforts.
This controversy unfolds against the backdrop of broader national debates surrounding museum deaccessioning practices. While the practice has long been governed by strict guidelines from organizations like the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), deaccessioning has accelerated significantly in recent years as museums grapple with mounting financial pressures and evolving institutional priorities. The Whitney Museum of American Art, for example, sold works by Edward Hopper and Maurice Prendergast in 2023 to fund acquisitions that would deepen their holdings of contemporary American art, moves that generated criticism but remained within AAMD guidelines.
Other major institutions have faced similar scrutiny for their deaccessioning decisions. The Baltimore Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) have both encountered intense opposition for attempts to sell significant works, whether to diversify their collections or strengthen their endowments. The debate reflects a fundamental tension in the museum world between preserving historical collections and adapting to contemporary needs and audiences.
Proponents of strategic deaccessioning argue that it serves as a necessary tool for keeping museum collections relevant and responsive to changing artistic landscapes. Whitney curator Jane Panetta told ARTnews last year that sales are "essential to closing historical gaps," explaining that "we want to grow the collection." Major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Brooklyn Museum have similarly sold blue-chip works to fund new acquisitions or improve collection care, particularly taking advantage of pandemic-era rule changes that provided greater flexibility for deaccessioning.
Opponents of such practices counter that selling foundational works fundamentally violates the public trust and risks institutional sanctions from professional organizations. In the case of the Phillips Collection, critics argue that the museum is parting with masterworks that were personally beloved by Duncan Phillips himself, works that formed the emotional and artistic core of his vision for the institution. Some supporters of the museum have questioned why more aggressive fundraising efforts were not pursued as an alternative to selling these significant pieces.
The upcoming sales of the O'Keeffe, Seurat, and Dove works will serve as a crucial test of whether the Phillips Collection's gamble on future-focused collecting can withstand both the emotional weight of parting with its distinguished past and the institutional pressure from critics who view the sales as a betrayal of the founder's legacy. As Liza Phillips noted with evident disappointment, "We never imagined this." The outcome of these sales and their reception by the art world will likely influence how other museums approach similar decisions in balancing preservation of their historical identity with adaptation to contemporary realities.
