“Saint Dominic in Prayer,” painted in the workshop of El Greco, is expected to sell for over $150,000 (all images courtesy Christie’s)The Hispanic Society Museum and Library in Upper Manhattan is deaccessioning dozens of European Old Master works, including a painting from the workshop of El Greco, to raise money for collection care and acquisitions. Founded in 1904 with the intent to “advance the study of the Spanish and Portuguese languages, literature, and history,” the museum is selling 45 paintings of predominantly religious and aristocratic subjects from its collection in an online auction closing on October 17. The works are being offered through Christie’s in a “special strategic deaccessioning sale” because they were found to be outside of the museum’s core mission as it attempts to “responsibly diversify” its collection, according to a press release shared with Hyperallergic. The institution did not respond to a request for comment inquiring about more specific plans for the funds from the sale. Clemente Del Camino y Parladé’s “El Columpio (The Swing)The museum holds a first-edition copy of Don Quixote and a world map dated 1529, and hosts events geared toward the Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, listed as a “Dominican Historic District” on the National Register of Historic Places. The works for sale include paintings from the Spanish School of the late-16th and 17th centuries, a Hispano-Flemish rendering of Saint Sebastian, and pieces from the Central Italian School. “Saint Dominic in Prayer,” from the workshop of the Spanish Renaissance artist known widely as El Greco, is expected to fetch over $150,000, with the current highest bid at $160,000.The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has strict requirements for how accredited museums can use deaccessioning funds, but collection care is one of the organization’s approved uses. Under the organization’s guidelines, museums can sell works when objects are redundant, damaged, or of “poor quality.”According to AAM, museum deaccessioning can be an indicator that an institution “has not been adequately supported for many years.”“Portrait of Emperor Charles V in an Armchair” after the Italian painter Tiziano Vecellio, also known as TitianAnother highlighted work in the sale is “Portrait of Emperor Charles V in an Armchair,” a modern copy made after Titian’s work of the same title. Other lots in the sale include an undated portrait of Isabella of Portugal, by a follower of Titian, currently bidding at $9,500; a Madonna and child after Luis de Morales; and Seville 20th-century painter Clemente Del Camino y Parladé’s “El Columpio (The Swing).”The works will remain on view at Christie’s headquarters in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center until October 15.