State attorneys appeared in a Davidson County Chancery Court this morning, asking a judge to name the Tennessee Attorney General a third party in the lawsuit between Fisk University and the O’Keeffe Foundation.
The state is looking to play a larger role in the dispute over Fisk University’s prized art collection donated in 1949 by Georgia O’Keeffe. To raise some much needed cash, the school has been trying to sell several paintings, namely the iconic work Radiator Building, Night – New York by O’Keeffe. Her estate, however, has blocked its sale.
Senior counsel for the Attorney General, Janet Kleinfelter, says the state won’t be fighting solely for the interests of either the school or the foundation.
“We are clearly a third party because we oppose the position of the museum. The museum has taken the position that if Fisk is not willing or cannot comply with the conditions, then essentially they lose the gift and the collection should go to the museum in Santa Fe.”
Kleinfelter says Fisk, on the other hand, is trying to free the entire collection from control of the O’Keeffe estate, not just what it needs to pay the bills. She says the Attorney General – as the state’s steward of charitable gifts – is interested in protecting the collection from being slowly auctioned off one piece at a time.
A court date remains set for mid-July.
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