In a strongly worded letter to Valparaiso University’s Board of Directors, Richard Brauer demanded his name be removed from the Brauer Museum of Art if any of three cornerstone paintings are sold to fund dorm renovations, and called the move to sell the paintings by José Padilla, the university’s president, a “desperate action by a desperate man.”
“As I write this letter, I do not know the whereabouts or the condition of the three most valuable paintings that belong to the museum that bears my name. I do not know if they are safe, if they are presently for sale, or if they have been sold,” Brauer wrote in the letter, dated Thursday. The Board of Directors is slated to meet this weekend.
The university removed the paintings from display in September 2023 citing security concerns and they have been stored in a secure, offsite location since then.
Brauer tried to intervene in the university’s petition to amend the Percy H. Sloan Trust to allow for the sale but withdrew his request in late August, the day before Porter Superior Court Magistrate Ana Osan’s ruling in support of the university because he risked being beset with an unknown amount in legal fees.
A visitor walks among paintings, including Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills” (right) at the Brauer Museum of Art on the Valparaiso University campus in Valparaiso, Indiana Friday, February 10, 2023. Campus and community members continue to react to the announcement of the pending sale of O’Keeffe’s and two other works to fund first-year student dorm renovations. (Andy Lavalley for the Post-Tribune)
Under the tenets of the trust established by Sloan, any sale proceeds were to be reinvested back into the collection through the purchase of additional artwork, but Osan found that impractical given the university’s financial situation. The university is facing a $9 million deficit this fiscal year, according to court filings.
The university, in its court filings to amend the trust which paid for two of the paintings directly and provided funding for the third, argued that two of the three paintings weren’t “conservative” in nature and therefore did not fit in with the Sloan collection or the tenets of the trust, and said that Brauer knew as much when he purchased the paintings.
Brauer and his supporters have disputed the notion that he violated the trust and said all of the paintings he purchased were vetted at the time.
“The President in his successful petition to the probate court maligned me, the committee upon which I served, and the committee’s trustee, in alleging that I acted in bad faith in acquiring two of those paintings,” Brauer wrote to the board.
“This I can forgive, as an unnecessary and desperate action by a desperate man. But I refuse to have my name and reputation further sullied by the sale of artworks acquired through the generosity of a donor whose wishes I honored faithfully throughout my career as director of the Valparaiso University Museum.”
“The Silver Vale and the Golden Gate” by Childe Hassam at the Brauer Museum of Art on the Valparaiso University campus in Valparaiso, Indiana Friday, February 10, 2023. Campus and community members continue to react to the announcement of the pending sale of O’Keeffe’s and two other works to fund first-year student dorm renovations. (Andy Lavalley for the Post-Tribune)
Padilla first announced the possible sale of the artwork in February 2023, with plans to use the proceeds from the sale of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Rust Red Hills,” Frederic E. Church’s “Mountain Landscape” and “The Silver Vale and the Golden Gate” by Childe Hassam, to fund dorm renovations for first-year students.
According to appraisals received by the university, the fair market value of the O’Keeffe is estimated at $10.5 million to $15 million; the Hassam, between $1 million and $3.5 million; and the Church at $1 million to $3 million.
The announcement drew widespread criticism from students, faculty, alumni and the art world, and drew nationwide attention.
“I hope members of the Urschel family who originally requested that the museum bear my name understand how grateful I am that they honored me that way, as I hope they understand why I am compelled to ask that my name be removed should the President succeed in selling any of the works in question,” Brauer said in concluding his letter.
The university has yet to provide a timeline for the sale of the paintings, though officials have said they want the dorms for first-year students to be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2026. The dorms will include a gallery of lesser-known works from the Sloan Trust.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
