loss of the Rose Art Museum

It is to weep... or gnash teeth (in my opinion). I had a friend who was a literature prof at Brandeis for a while. If he hadn't already passed away in the nineties, this might kill him ---

LINK



Erik Jacobs for The New York Times
One of the current exhibitions at the Rose Art Museum shows the work of the Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann.


In the Closing of Brandeis Museum, a Stark Statement of Priorities
By ROBERTA SMITH
Published: February 1, 2009

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WALTHAM, Mass. " Few things are more poignant than a gem of a museum whose days may be numbered. So it was at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University on a visit Friday, days after the university’s trustees voted unanimously to trash the institution by closing it and auctioning off the 6,000 works in its collection. The action came without consulting either the museum’s own board of governors or its director, Michael Rush.

The Brandeis vote was an act of breathtaking stealth and presumption: a raid on a museum that supports itself, raises its own funds and has consistently planned wisely for its own future without leaning on the university. The trustees treated it nonetheless as a disposable asset.
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opinions?