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A 'Gross' malpractice
Jefferson's 'Gross' malpractice
ANNE R. FABBRI
I’d like to file a malpractice suit against Robert O. Barchi, M.D. and Ph.D., president of Thomas Jefferson University, and all of Jefferson’s trustees. You cold-bloodedly investigated whether or not this would be a propitious time to sell a treasured work of art inextricably intertwined with Philadelphia's cultural fabric. You gave Philadelphians no warning, nor did you give us a reasonable amount of time to raise a matching sum.
No, you announced the fait accompli of the sale of Thomas Eakins’s “The Gross Clinic” for $68 million and its move to a projected museum in Arkansas. Then, under duress, you conceded 45 days to Philadelphians to come up with a full match of funds in order to keep the painting here. You agreed to this vile deed without consulting your alumni (whose organization had given it to you originally), your faculty, your medical associates and your employees.
Is this the way good citizens behave?
I don’t believe that you were so naïve that you didn't realize this painting’s importance to Philadelphia. Thomas Eakins is our native son. The painting in his masterpiece. Would Florence sell the David sculpture by Michelangelo? (I’m glad that’s not your decision to make.)
Why not cancel the sale and donate the painting, to be jointly held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts? The good will generated by such a gesture might well inspire large individual contributions to Thomas Jefferson University for your projected needs. Why not try it? What is the rush? Or would you rather Philadelphians hold you in derision from now on into the future?
* * *
To make a tax-deductible contribution to keep “The Gross Clinic” in Philadelphia, visit the Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece at www.philamuseum.org or write a check payable to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece and send it to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece, c/o Philadelphia Museum of Art, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, PA 19130-7646. The Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece HOTLINE is reachable by calling 215-684-7762.
Protest demonstrations will take place every Sunday until we can keep the painting, from 10 a.m. on each Sunday in front of Jefferson’s Alumni Hall, 1000 block of Locust Street. I will be there to welcome all comers.
To read a response, click here.
To view other commentaries about the sale of "The Gross Clinic," click here and here and here.
ANNE R. FABBRI
I’d like to file a malpractice suit against Robert O. Barchi, M.D. and Ph.D., president of Thomas Jefferson University, and all of Jefferson’s trustees. You cold-bloodedly investigated whether or not this would be a propitious time to sell a treasured work of art inextricably intertwined with Philadelphia's cultural fabric. You gave Philadelphians no warning, nor did you give us a reasonable amount of time to raise a matching sum.
No, you announced the fait accompli of the sale of Thomas Eakins’s “The Gross Clinic” for $68 million and its move to a projected museum in Arkansas. Then, under duress, you conceded 45 days to Philadelphians to come up with a full match of funds in order to keep the painting here. You agreed to this vile deed without consulting your alumni (whose organization had given it to you originally), your faculty, your medical associates and your employees.
Is this the way good citizens behave?
I don’t believe that you were so naïve that you didn't realize this painting’s importance to Philadelphia. Thomas Eakins is our native son. The painting in his masterpiece. Would Florence sell the David sculpture by Michelangelo? (I’m glad that’s not your decision to make.)
Why not cancel the sale and donate the painting, to be jointly held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts? The good will generated by such a gesture might well inspire large individual contributions to Thomas Jefferson University for your projected needs. Why not try it? What is the rush? Or would you rather Philadelphians hold you in derision from now on into the future?
* * *
To make a tax-deductible contribution to keep “The Gross Clinic” in Philadelphia, visit the Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece at www.philamuseum.org or write a check payable to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece and send it to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece, c/o Philadelphia Museum of Art, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, PA 19130-7646. The Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece HOTLINE is reachable by calling 215-684-7762.
Protest demonstrations will take place every Sunday until we can keep the painting, from 10 a.m. on each Sunday in front of Jefferson’s Alumni Hall, 1000 block of Locust Street. I will be there to welcome all comers.
To read a response, click here.
To view other commentaries about the sale of "The Gross Clinic," click here and here and here.
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