NPR’s Weekend Edition celebrated the opening of Alice Walton’s Crystal Bridges museum of American art with a short piece accusing the Wal-Mart heiress of predatory acquisitions:
ROSE: It’s been 50 years since anyone opened a major museum dedicated to American art. Crystal Bridges is even more impressive when you consider that it spans four centuries – from the colonial era to the present day. John Wilmerding is a professor of art history at Princeton and a long-time advisor to Alice Walton.
JOHN WILMERDING: Nobody, including myself, who’s an Americanist thought that you could begin to acquire great American masterpieces in today’s market. We had all thought they were already in public collections or in private hands.
ROSE: Alice Walton has shown that there are still masterpieces to be had if you’ve got piles of money and the stomach for some controversy.
Wal-Mart Heiress’ Show Puts A High Price On Art (Weekend Edition/NPR)
