By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, November 7, 2017
In a victory for the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, a judge ruled on Tuesday that it could go ahead with plans to sell off artworks, including two Norman Rockwell paintings, as part of a plan to fund its "New Vision." Photo Credit Berkshire Eagle
PITTSFIELD — Two iconic paintings by Norman Rockwell and other artworks owned by the Berkshire Museum can be sold as planned, after the struggling nonprofit prevailed Tuesday in a Berkshire Superior Court legal challenge.
Judge John Agostini ruled that plaintiffs in two civil actions, and the state Attorney General's Office itself, failed to make their cases to halt a large-scale deaccession by the museum.
The judge is unsparing in his view that the Attorney General's Office conducted an anemic review of the art sale after it was notified about it by the museum in June.
Though not initially a plaintiff, the office filed an emergency motion Nov. 1 to be made one by the court, which Agostini allowed.
All original plaintiffs in two lawsuits were found by Agostini to lack legal standing to challenge the art sales.
In his 25-page decision, Agostini devotes 15 pages to faulting the showing by the Attorney General's Office, suggesting it was "dragged into the litigation."
Judge John Agostini ruled that plaintiffs in two civil actions, and the state Attorney General's Office itself, failed to make their cases to halt a large-scale deaccession by the museum.
The judge is unsparing in his view that the Attorney General's Office conducted an anemic review of the art sale after it was notified about it by the museum in June.
Though not initially a plaintiff, the office filed an emergency motion Nov. 1 to be made one by the court, which Agostini allowed.
All original plaintiffs in two lawsuits were found by Agostini to lack legal standing to challenge the art sales.
In his 25-page decision, Agostini devotes 15 pages to faulting the showing by the Attorney General's Office, suggesting it was "dragged into the litigation."
RSS Feed
