The Rose Art Museum's board of overseers wants to prevent Brandeis University from selling its art, and at 2 p.m. today they hope Boston Municipal Court will help them, at least for now, achieve that objective.
The overseers will ask the court for a temporary injunction to stop Brandeis from selling any art.
The Rose's collection is comprised of about 7,500 works, including paintings by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg.
"The idea is to protect this collection so it can never be dismantled in any way," said Overseer Meryl Rose, who is related to the museum's founders.
Rose said the recently released report by the Committee for the Future of the Rose, which supported keeping the museum open to the public, "means nothing."
"The committee was just a PR move. The only function of the committee was to spend time and look like (Brandeis University) was doing something proactive," said Rose.
Her comments echo those of the museum's executive director, Michael Rush, an outspoken critic who has also called committee a farce.
Brandeis representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday.
"It's very troubling for us that people have the perception everything is fine, that they've backed off. It's really not fine," Rose said.
Regular museum functions and donations have stopped since the university's board of trustees unanimously agreed to allow the sale of the Rose Art Museum's collection.
Rose said the museum has already lost large donations, such as the Grippe estate and two pieces of real estate, which would have been used for an addition on the Rose, because donors are uncertain of the museum's future.
"They know the Rose is in peril, that Brandeis could just come in and sell it," Rose said.
At the moment, she said, there is no scholarship going on, no reciprocity or loaning with other museums and no donations.
"It's dead - it's absolutely dead," Rose said.
"They're putting on faux shows. This summer they did a re-tread of a 30-year-old show. It was a lovely show, but it was from 30 years ago," she said.
The overseers have set up the nonprofit Rose Preservation Fund Inc., to which supporters can donate funds to help pay "enormous legal bills" to protect the Rose.
Joyce Kelly can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jkelly@cnc.com.
