Art historians and others object strongly to attempts by cultural institutions to sell art just to pay the bills. Moreover, Fisk has gotten little sympathy from those who say the school waited too long to focus on fundraising because it was preoccupied with selling the art.
"Why opt for the strategy of selling your art rather than developing a capital campaign?'' said Lucius Outlaw Jr, a Vanderbilt University professor and Fisk alumnus. "The normal way of managing an institution is to have developed and implemented a plan for substantial fundraising to build an endowment."
The university had to borrow money in the late in 1970s and averted a shutdown in the early 1980s, thanks in large part to donations from Nashvillians and alumni. Fisk reported operating losses totaling more than US$7 million in 2005 and 2006, according to GuideStar.org.
Fisk President Hazel O'Leary set a goal earlier this month of raising US$6.2 million by June 30 but has said that selling the artwork remains a key component of the school's efforts.
While court filings have emphasized Fisk's worsening finances, O'Leary and school officials have publicly downplayed the seriousness of the situation.
Fisk officials have not returned repeated calls from the Associated Press. But O'Leary acknowledged in an opinion piece in the Tennessean last month that the school "has not done a stellar job" of raising money.
She blamed the bleak fundraising performance on frequent turnover of university leadership and an understaffed fundraising team.
Saul Cohen, president of the O'Keeffe Museum, has said the museum's overriding concern is the art, not Fisk's financial condition.
But others have their doubts as to whether the museum is truly interested in protecting O'Keeffe's wishes, noting that it tried to make a deal under which it would buy Radiator Building for US$7.5 million and allow Fisk to sell the Hartley on the open market.
Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale University Art Gallery, has called the O'Keeffe Museum officials "the most hypocritical bunch of looters I've ever run across."
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