LACMA DOES AN ABOUT-FACE ON ART SALE
An ancient Indian sculpture quietly consigned for sale in a New York gallery by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be returned to the museum, LACMA Director Michael Govan said, as the museum reconsiders policies on the perpetually controversial issue of such "de-accessions."
"I'm very conservative on de-accessioning," Govan said in a telephone interview Thursday. "LACMA's existing policies are standard. You may see those policies change in the future -- you will probably see them get tighter -- but that will take serious consultation with curators and members of the board."
Govan said the turnabout on the Indian work came in response to questions about the propriety of the sale raised earlier this week by retired LACMA curator Pratapaditya Pal, a leading scholar of Indian art.
"The process was carried out very carefully by all those involved," Govan said. "But out of respect for a great man and somebody who has contributed enormously to the museum, I want to take his thoughts into consideration. The sculpture will be returned and discussed."
Pal pronounced himself "very pleased" with Govan's decision to spare an artwork Pal considers special because of its size, age, quality and individuality. "I felt that I had to save this piece," he said. "That's my duty, and I am quite passionate about it."
The 38-inch-tall sandstone sculpture of Uma-Maheshvara, a pair of Hindu deities, was to go on view Tuesday -- with a $350,000 asking price -- in "Sacred and Sublime," an exhibition at Carlton Rochell Asian Art, in the Fuller Building's elegant gallery enclave on 57th Street. It was not the star attraction among 65 works of Indian and Southeast Asian art, several of which are valued at more than $1 million apiece. But LACMA purchased the Uma-Maheshvara in 1969 as part of a 345-piece collection amassed by dealer Nasli Heeramaneck and his wife, Alice. The acquisition immediately established the museum as a serious collector of Indian art.
"The Heeramaneck collection is what this museum is known for," said Pal, who was hired in 1970 and spent 25 years at LACMA building on the early acquisition. Upon learning of the sculpture's consignment, he sent an e-mail to museum administrators stating his objections to selling what he deemed "one of the rarest and most important Indian sculptures from the Heeramaneck collection."
