Painting By Big Numbers

Emotional reactions are by their nature neither easily explainable to or understandable by those who do not share the same emotions. Perhaps that is why I do not get all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the imminent sale by Thomas Jefferson University of the Thomas Eakins' painting "The Gross Clinic."

Even accepting that the work is a masterpiece, Eakins' finest effort, and an artistic icon deeply rooted in Philadelphia's cultural history, I cannot criticize Jefferson for getting $68 million for an asset that was generating no income and that does nothing to advance the University's mission. No student is not going to matriculate, no prospective faculty member is going to accept another offer, and no patient care will be negatively impacted because this painting is leaving town. Life goes on.