© Museum Associates/LACMA

Michael Govan, LACMA’s CEO and director

Jan Boeckhorst Giovan Battista Cima da Conegliano Pietro da Cortona Lucas Cranach the Elder Jacques-Louis David Appeals Court Strikes Down Restitution Law, but Goudstikker Case Continues Adam Williams Jean-Luc Baroni

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Sotheby's made clear in the catalog for the January 29 auction that the works — paintings by Joshua Reynolds and Lucas Cranach the Elder — are being sold by the museum "to benefit future acquisitions," the only acceptable reason to deaccession works, according to the guidelines of the Association of Art Museum Directors, which recently censured the National Academy in New York for selling works to pay operating costs.

Green asked Govan if there was a specific acquisition the sale would support.

"LACMA doesn't usually trade one thing for another," Govan said. "So no, we're not deaccessioning because we have to pay some bill on another painting. The bottom line is: If you've noticed what we've been buying, we've been buying very aggressively. We've been planning to re-do our European collection galleries, and we're slated at the end of this year to do that."

Recent acquisitions include a Pietro da Cortona, a Jan Boeckhorst triptych, a Jacques-Louis David portrait, and a Cima da Conegliano Madonna and Child.

LACMA's decision to sell its only work by Lucas Cranach the Elder has been especially questioned, but according to Govan, the museum's curators would "rather have a first-rate painting of someone who's not Rubens than a token Rubens. Especially if there is a better one at the Getty or someplace else."