Sell the Pollack?

Please no. But apparently the Iowa Board of Regents are going to conduct a study to see how much it's worth- which probably means some idiot will propose selling it to pay for flood damage. Granted, there's a lot of flood damage, but I think, given the debacle in getting a replacement for David Skorton in place, I doubt there's a lot of love for the Regents on the Iowa Campus so woe betide them if they propose selling the Pollack.

Jackson Pollack's Mural is nine by twenty just gigantic and the centerpiece of the very impressive collection of the University of Iowa Art Museum. It is truly an incredible piece of art and they'd be fools to get rid of it- the Pollack alone is a huge draw fo r the Museum and I know because I worked their for five years. People come to see Feininger's Pink Sky (why, I don't know, but there you go), Wood's Portrait of a Boy(a little more understandable. I liked it.) and The Pollack.

Here's the rub though: it's worth $150 Million at the last evaluation and probably over 200 million by now. It's certainly the most valuable thing the University of Iowa owns and, I think I was told that it's the most valuable thing the State of Iowa owns outside of real estate.

They would be absolutely FOOLS to get rid of it! But $200 million could buy you a new Museum real quick and the University might be needing one of them right quick. Plus, since apparently of the gobs of insurance the University had only $40 million was specifically for flood damage. The Pollack is one juicy bit of temptation to dangle in front of a University that is gonna need some cash.

Hopefully common sense will prevail.