I just saw last night's news about Brandeis University selling off its art collection.

Whoa.

I realize I've championed reasoned discussion of this sort of thing in the past, and I'm open to other ideas here, but my first reaction to this announcement is simply, HELLO, SLIPPERY SLOPE.

It's like, first they came for the Durand and the Stuart, then for the Pollock, then the Rauschenbergs (talked about during the LA MOCA debacle). But an entire significant museum collection?

Fnarf points out in the comments that there are plenty of great museums in Boston, anyway, and he's right.

But the principle of this thing is chilling: Art's value is monetary. It's stuff waiting to be pawned. In Boston, the attorney general's office is getting involved and who knows what will actually happen. But after all these examples hammering on this door, you get the feeling it will come crashing down someday soon.