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according to Sally Yerkovitch, quoted in the Times article.Now, nothing the Petersen is doing is technically illegal, but there are some ethical issues to consider here, especially since the Petersen is a non-profit institution who's stated goals are to serve the public interest. To help clarify, I contacted a friend in the museum world, and while they'd prefer to remain anonymous, what they told me helped put things in perspective.Essentially, the issue is that the public, while they don't really get a say in things, as such, should be able to see and access the collection. That's what many of the donors had in mind specifically when they donated their vehicles. But when cars go on the auction block, they could easily end up in private collections, and the public will never get to see or encounter them, which goes against both the public interest and the desires of the original donor.Also, when a work of art (or in this case, an important car) is donated, they get a tax break because the public gains access to the work. So if the work is then sold to a private collector, that invalidates the original intent of the tax break, since the public no longer has access to the car.It's tricky. The Petersen's not part of an overarching regulating body, and in the end they can do what they please. The end result may in fact be a much stronger museum as well, with an improved collection. But that still doesn't change that these decisions were made without any public notice, and for an institution designed to server the public, that could be problematic. People will disagree with some of the cars being sold — there's no way around that.
