- O’Keeffe’s “Radiator Building”
Fisk University can’t sell a 50 percent share in its collection of American masterpieces to Alice Walton, a Tennessee chancery court judge ruled today.
Walton sought to obtain an undivided interest in the collection, 101 works from the Alfred Stieglitz Collection donated to the school by artist (and Stieglitz’s wife) Georgia O’Keeffe, for $30 million. The work was valued at $72 million, and Fisk sought to sell to Walton because of financial difficulties the school is in. The work would have been exhibited at Walton’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which she’s building in Bentonville. Of particular interest to Walton is O’Keeffe’s work “Radiator Building,” itself worth $20 million, according to some appraisers.
The judge ruled that the agreement would violate the terms of O’Keeffe’s bequest. More, including a link to the judge’s ruling here and (for background) here.