School keeps but can’t sell O’Keeffe art

Fisk University broke the terms of a donation from painter Georgia O’Keeffe but shouldn’t lose the art collection to a New Mexico museum, a judge ruled in Nashville.

Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle permanently banned any sale of the 101-piece collection and set an October deadline for Fisk to retrieve the artwork from storage and put it on display.

Lyle had rejected several previous attempts by the cash-strapped school to sell artworks, including O’Keeffe’s signature 1927 oil painting “Radiator Building -- Night, New York.”

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in New Mexico had sued to gain the rights over the collection because of the school’s attempts to sell paintings and because they weren’t currently on display. The Santa Fe museum is the legal representative of the late artist’s estate.