This article is part of the Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on the art world stretching boundaries with new artists, new audiences and new technology.
Museums are always looking to acquire new works of art. A larger collection helps an institution draw audiences and build prestige and offers an opportunity to exchange art with other museums to keep variety in its galleries.
But the budgets to realize this ambition are tight, given how expensive it is to construct and maintain buildings, pay salaries and even store all the art that museums have previously taken in — costs that are all going up.
So at a time when every dollar counts, museums are thinking creatively about how to bring in new acquisitions.
At the Toledo Museum of Art, for example, the director, Adam Levine, has been ramping up purchases in anticipation of a museumwide re-installation of its collection. The museum has also been purchasing aggressively at auctions and taking advantage of a financial instrument, the auction guarantee, to make money for the institution in the process.
Some museums are exploring splitting the costs of a work of art with other museums and owning it jointly, part of a growing discussion about whether sole ownership really needs to be the end goal.