How Much Can I Get For This Used Van Gogh?

Marketplace, a program highly recommended in general for its thorough and intelligent reporting on economics for the common man, has a feature today on the ongoing situation in Detroit. Lizzie O'Leary interviews Detroit Institute of Arts Director Graham Beale. The DIA's collection has become the public face of the debt crisis with the City eying it like a drug addict desperately trying to get some fast cash. You can read the interview HERE or listen to the segment embedded below.

Karl Scmidt-Rottluff • Cactus in Bloom • 1919 • oil on canvas • 26.25 x 29.5 inches
City of Detroit Purchase • Detroit Institute of Arts

This painting by German Expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff purchased for the DIA by the City of Detroit is one of the contested works now being appraised by Christie's auction house. Even if the works, which are expected to be valued in the many millions, were all sold to the highest bidder the proceeds wouldn't put much of a dent in the City's debt, which is estimated to be 18 billion dollars.