Carol Vogel reports that the Israel Museum is deaccessioning a few works in the hopes of buying a Picasso from the Neo-Classical or Analytic Cubist period or a Chagall from the 1920s or earlier:

So beginning in November the museum will sell a group of paintings worth more than $17 million at Sotheby’s in New York and London. The proceeds will go toward acquisition of artworks that fill gaps or toward more work by artists the museum already has.

Among the highlights for sale, starting in New York on Nov. 2, is Magritte’s painting“Le Droit Chemin,” a 1966 work showing an apple and a massive stone. (The artist enjoyed depicting two disparate objects.) The painting is expected to sell for $2.5 million to $3.5 million. The museum is also selling “Le Louvre, Matin, Printemps,” an urban landscape from 1902 by Pissarro.

Inside Art: Israel Museum’s Auction (New York Times)