Donor blows whistle on Met sale

As a number of U.S. art museums continue to put major works from their permanent collections up for auction again this year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was recently stopped from selling at least one piece, a large abstract steel sculpture by Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002). Frank Ribelin, a Dallas collector, donated the 1983 work Silent Music II (Homage to J.S. Bach) to the Met in 1986. He was astonished and angered to see the sculpture offered for sale in a London auction at Sotheby's in February, without his permission. It is the only work by the renowned Basque sculptor in the Met's collection and the most important piece by the artist yet brought to auction. Estimated to sell for $1.8-2.6 million, the work was being sold by the museum to support its acquisitions fund.

Ribelin complained to the Met in January that its donation policy calls for the museum to notify the donor or estate if it decides to sell a work within 25 years of receiving the gift. At first the museum ignored the complaint and decided to proceed with the sale. But after Ribelin contacted the New York Times about the situation, the museum offered an apology and pulled the work from the sale. A Times story about the incident ran after the Met had already withdrawn the Chillida. Museum spokespersons cited lack of space to display the 7-foot-long sculpture as the reason it was chosen for deaccessioning.

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