The Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia has been served a sanction by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) for selling off George Bellows’ “Men of the Docks.” The museum sold the painting to the National Gallery in London for $25.5 million in order to fund college operations. The Maier Museum purchased the Bellows work in 1920 with funds raised by Randolph College students.

The AAMD issued a statement on March 12 saying, “The prohibition against the sale of works of art from museum collections for such purposes is a violation of one of the most fundamental professional principles of the art museum field. That Randolph College, which is responsible for establishing policies for and overseeing the operations of the Maier Museum, continues to take such actions is a matter of grave concern to AAMD, art museums everywhere, and the public they serve."

In 2008, Randolph College was issued a censure by the AAMD for selling a Rufino Tamayo painting for $7.2 million. The AAMD, which represents 236 directors of North America’s leading art museums, has issued sanctions that will include instructions to its members to suspend any loans of works of art to and any collaboration on exhibitions and programs with the Maier Museum of Art.

The National Gallery purchased “Men of the Docks” with money from a fund established by the late philanthropist John Paul Getty. It is the first major American painting to enter the museum’s collection. The institution also owns works by American-born European artists and a minor, rarely-displayed piece by the American landscape painter George Inness.