Dear Alexander,
You are, I know, intelligent enough not to set a trap for yourself! But you have done just that. Now I can ask you the same question: Who owns the International Centre of the Roerichs? Who owns the paintings on exhibit there? Can the Centre sell, or give, its paintings to anyone? (I have been told that it can.) I look forward to the answers.
As to ownership, I think our museum is on firmer ground than ICR. NRM (Nicholas Roerich Musem) owns all the paintings that are on its walls and in storage. M. Ts. R., on the other hand, owns some paintings, and Mr. Bulotchnik owns others that are on its walls. Is this not true? And, since Mr. Bulotchnik bought so many paintings at great expense to himself, I have also been told that some of them are hanging in his bank, not at M. Ts. R. Is this true?
In answer to your questions to me, I can say that you are mistaken to say that the idea of a corporation owning itself is ridiculous. Legally, a corporation owns itself and its property, but of course the executives of the corporation, and in this case the executives of the museum (I am CEO, Chief Executive Officer, in legal terms) make the decisions, with the Board overseeing, as I have already described.
Yes, Museums can sell, or give, their property as they wish. Bad Directors can do bad things. But almost all museums belong to an American Association of Museums, which has a Code of Ethics that museums adhere to. By that code, a museum can dispose of paintings in order to obtain better paintings, or dispose of paintings it owns that have no connection with the Mission of the museum. But it cannot sell paintings just to raise money for other purposes. To be sure, the word "cannot" refers to its ethical obligation, not its legal one.
In our case, for example, we were given a beautiful painting by Alexandra Exter by an owner who did not want it. We may, without criticism from anyone, sell that painting to obtain funds to buy Roerich paintings. That is because exhibiting paintings by Roerich -- not by anyone else -- is part of our stated mission.
Once, LVS ridiculed me for making the distinction between what is legal and what is ethical. But what I said then was correct, and is correct. There is a big difference.
With respectful disagreement,
Daniel
|
Дерево сообщений
Поиск
Новая тема
Настройки