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Creating a Collection: A Tour Through the Smith College Museum of ArtMain MenuHow do museums build and unbuild collections?How This WorksInstructions on How to Use this WebsiteHow to Read a Museum LabelThis will help you navigate the SCMA and other museumsWhat is "Public Trust"?Why Museums CollectHow Museums CollectHow Museums Remove Objects from their CollectionsSamantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5c
Why Museums Remove Objects from their Collections
12017-03-20T19:39:19-07:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5c1562317plain2017-05-05T13:14:17-07:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5cAs we have learned from WHY and HOW museums collect, collections are somewhat fluid things. They change. And they do not always grow. Sometimes museums remove objects from their collections—this is called deaccessioning.
Just as museums add to collections for a variety of reasons, museums remove objects from collections for a range of reasons. If an artwork is considered to be a forgery, in bad shape, or a duplicate of something else in the collection, it may be sold or given to an institution that can learn from such a work.
Also, if a museum changes its mission or goals, it may need to decide if certain artworks in its collection still serve the same purpose they were acquired to.
Dewing's Lady with Lute was deaccessioned from the SCMA in the 1940s, along with nearly 100 other works of art. This painting was sold by Gimbels in 1946, on behalf of the SCMA. In May 1947, Dr. Walter Timme bought the painting, which he later donated to the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C.
It's important to be methodical and reasoned when removing objects from a collection, after which they will probably be difficult (or impossible) to get back. In order to avoid regret, the museum needs to be aware of changing circumstances around issues of taste and space. The importance of a central mission behind a museum's collecting practices is intended to safeguard against changing trends. Additionally, limitations of space can change over time, so this also should not be a primary motivation for what a museum chooses to keep or dispose of.
To learn more about why museums remove objects from the collection, click on the links below.
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12017-03-08T08:39:35-08:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5cHow do museums build and unbuild collections?Samantha Page38structured_gallery2017-05-05T11:33:04-07:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5c
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12017-04-02T10:24:08-07:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5cInconsistent with collecting policy6plain2017-05-05T13:12:08-07:00Samantha Page4d4aad3cbb232d6b14d08c9a79a502129237df5c
12017-03-21T19:26:29-07:00Thomas Wilmer Dewing's "Lady with a Lute"61886, oil on wood, 20 x 15 3/4 in., NGA 1978.60.1, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Walter Timme (formerly SC 1889:1-1, acquired from artist via Hillyer Fund in 1889, sold via Gimbel Brothers, New York, 1946)media/dewing_LUNA copy.jpgplain2017-05-03T17:51:32-07:00
