On Saturday, The New York Post ran an article about a discovery of a "forgotten trove" of artworks with values estimated at $100,000 to $1 million at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, the sale of which was destined to "bring them lifesaving cash" and help save them from millions of dollars of debt.
It sounded like a fairy tale, and, according to the hospital, it is.
Barbara Jo Howard, the director of communications and marketing, was quoted in The Post as saying, "We were keenly aware of what was there," and that the hospital's board of directors has yet to approve any sale. "None of this is ready to go yet. It's very preliminary."
Most of the article was based on quotes from an auction house representative. It also quoted people from outside the hospital with connections to the art community or who have written about the history of the area and its artists. None of those sources appeared to have direct knowledge of the hospital's collection, its value, or its plans for it.
Although the pieces discussed had some notable makers such as Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning, they appeared to be lower-value prints and multiples from portfolios that the late Elaine Benson, a Bridgehampton art dealer, arranged as donations. They were items that might reach a high of a few hundred or a thousand dollars rather than the multimillion-dollar paintings that show up at the top auctions.
On Tuesday, the hospital released a statement regarding the article. It confirmed that the Southampton Hospital Foundation, which supports the hospital, has been given works by many local artists.
"While preparing a retrospective exhibition about the life of Rose de Rose" this year, the Southampton History Museum "learned the foundation owned many of her woodcuts and offered to arrange for a potential sale of a few of the de Rose pieces to benefit the hospital and the society," the statement said.
The hospital said a representative was contacted to handle the sale of the woodcuts and was shown the room where the works were stored.
"There was discussion of possibly including some additional pieces of work by other artists in the sale. The majority of those works have been estimated to have a value between $100 to $200 each. However, there was no agreement between the foundation and the auction house to sell any additional artwork," except for the de Rose pieces.
According to the hospital, the foundation is planning to have the artwork appraised by an independent art specialist and the foundation board would then determine how to proceed.
In addition, the hospital took exception to The Post's characterization of its fund-raising activities. The Post referred to the Southampton Hospital Association's tax filings for its financial figures. The association operated the hospital until it joined Stony Brook Medicine in 2017 and transferred the operating certificate to Stony Brook University Hospital, which now manages the daily operations and costs.
The association owns and maintains the buildings and real estate of the hospital and its satellite facilities. It continues to raise money, but the money it collects are recorded as income through the Southampton Hospital Foundation, a separate nonprofit corporation with an independent board of trustees. Although the hospital is facing significant losses in income this year from Covid-19, the association's tax filings from 2018 that The Post cited would have likely reflected the merger and transfer.
Recent successful capital projects have included the rebuilding of the Level III trauma emergency room and the Heart and Stroke Center. The foundation has also raised $2.1 million for the hospital's Healthcare Heroes Fund, which addresses needs related to treating Covid-19.