Selling the family silver: mesuem finances

Paintings by Henri Matisse, Joan Miró and Claude Monet, which once hung on the walls of the Brooklyn Museum, will be auctioned this evening by Sotheby’s in New York. The proceeds will contribute to the creation of a $40m endowment to pay for staffing costs and the care and conservation of the institution’s remaining collection. Museums, which often rely on ticket sales for income, have been dealt a heavy financial blow by the pandemic. In May a report by the Network of European Museum Organisations found that major museums were losing between €100,000 and €600,000 ($118,000–$710,000) in revenue per week. A study by UNESCO of 95,000 museums around the world found that a tenth were unlikely to reopen. The Brooklyn Museum may have given others ideas. This month the Baltimore Museum of Art announced that it would sell three paintings from its permanent collection to raise $65m.

sell the family silver: 【idiom】To sell or part with a very valuable resource for a quick and immediate gain or advantage, rather than holding onto it for future use or to accrue even greater value.

auction: 拍卖
Sotheby: 苏富比
the proceeds：所得款项
endowment：n. 捐款，捐赠
contribute：v. 捐赠，捐助
conservation: 保护
the network of European meseum Organization: 欧洲博物馆组织网络（NEMO）
revenue: 财政收入
raise： 募（款）