In a detailed formal opinion, the Michigan attorney general said the art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts is held in charitable trust for the people of Michigan and could not be sold by the city to help settle some of its billions of dollars in debts.
The attorney general, Bill Schuette, said in a statement released by his office on Thursday that he recognized the serious financial hardships that the city faces.
But, he said, “The art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts is held by the city of Detroit in charitable trust for the people of Michigan, and no piece in the collection can thus be sold, conveyed or transferred to satisfy City debts or obligations.â€
The statement was quoted in several Detroit media outlets and linked to by the mlive.com Web site.
The Detroit Free Press said the opinion did not settle the legal question of whether the art would ever be sold. But the attorney general's action could provide important protection for the museum's extensive collection if any decision were ever to go to court.
Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, is exploring ways to restructure the city's $15 billion to $17 billion in debt. Mr. Orr has said he has no plans to sell the art, but nevertheless has a responsibility to work out what the city owns, including the museum's masterpieces. On Friday, Mr. Orr laid out his plan for tackling Detroit's staggering debt, asking some of the city's creditors to accept pennies on the dollar as he opened discussions that could determine whether the city is headed to bankruptcy court or not.
The Detroit Institute of Arts, founded in 1885, has a collection of more than 60,000 works, including an 1887 Van Gogh self-portrait; “The Wedding Dance†by Pieter Bruegel the Elder; and “Madonna and Child†by Giovanni Bellini.
“In Michigan, we not only appreciate our cultural treasures, we guard them zealously in charitable trust for all state residents, present and future,†Mr. Schuette said in the statement.
