Why Are Museums Selling Their Collections?

Several major American museums are auctioning paintings by famous artists, in the growing trend of deaccessioning their collections

The collections of American museums are undergoing major transformations this year as four top art institutions (the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the Guggenheim and SFMOMA) are auctioning important works at Sotheby's this spring. Each museum is parting with multimillion dollar masterpieces in an effort to diversify their collections and rethink established art historical canons.