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CULTURE
HUFFINGTON
08.04.13
Should Detroit Sell
Their Art to Save the City?
BY MALLIKA RAO
HEN THE CITY of Detroit declared bankruptcy last month, the
iconic Detroit Institute
of Arts was among the civic institutions whose fate came into jeopardy. Art world insiders feared that
masterpieces by such greats as Pi-
W
casso and Warhol could be raffled
off in a fire sale, depriving Motown
of a cultural legacy in a short-sighted drive for cash. Others pointed
out that the pensions of Detroit’s
aging retirees could be saved for
the price of a few canvasses.
But is the city really going to auc-
Visitors
admire Diego
Rivera’s
Detroit
Industry
fresco cycle
at the Detroit
Institute
of Arts.