Estate Planning

Georgia on My Mind

By Hull & Hull LLP

In 1949, Georgia O'Keeffe donated the Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern American and European Art to Fisk University ("Fisk") in Nashville, Tennessee.  O'Keeffe, as executor of her late husband's estate, divided his collection of paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs and donated the nearly 1,000 pieces to six institutions, including Fisk.  O'Keeffe had donated the collection to Fisk with the express stipulation that the paintings not be sold or exchanged, as evidenced by a letter written that year to then Fisk-President Charles S. Johnson.  

In 2005, cash-strapped Fisk attempted to sell the paintings from the collection in order to rectify its 'troubled financial condition'.  In court filings, Fisk officials indicated that the school would run out of operating funds by the end of 2007 without selling 50 percent of the collection.

In March 2008, the Court enjoined Fisk from selling the painting and ordered the school to put the collection on display by October 6th or forfeit the collection to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Since then, Fisk, arguing that selling the art for a reported $30 million does not violate O'Keeffe's original intent, has filed an appeal to sell half the collection to a museum in Arkansas.  This week, Fisk asked the appeals court to send the case back to trial court saying the judge should not have blocked the sale without a more comprehensive hearing.  Those of you familiar with my recent Machu Picchu blog, and the Beaverbrook blog trilogy of March 2007, October 2007 and August 2008 will find  some parallels here:  In court documents, the parties disagree as to whether the collection is a charitable gift as opposed to an asset that Fisk can dispose of at will.

Interestingly, the Fisk website indicates that "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection is unavailable for viewing due to renovations currently underway at the Carl Van Vechten Gallery". 

David M. Smith

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on September 11, 2008 (boomark / email).