Terry reminds me that, as is tradition at museums, proceeds from a sale of a piece of art are used to buy other pieces of art, so any Da Vinci money would end up on the walls, not as walls.
Well, unless they close the entire museum down, a la the Rose at Brandeis.
BTW, we sat through a presentation last night at the MFA where the new contemporary arts curator discussed future plans. (She's newly arrived from the ICA.)
There will be big changes to the old West Wing. The "Gund Gallery" will be relocated to the new "Americas" wing. The space will be divided into five galleries; these, plus new spaces on either end, will each be used for contemporary art installations. The Foster gallery (1st floor, near the Remis Auditorium and gift shop) will remain and be used for visiting exhibitions of contemporary art; the galleries upstairs will house pieces from the museum's permanent collection, on a rotating basis.
I can't remember the total square footage so let me make it up - I think it will be something like 12,000 square feet of space.
The new gallery on the end near where the escalators are, now, will be for video and films, if memory serves. It sure looked as if the escalators will be removed, but it may have just been the way the rendering was put together.
Estimated time of completion is spring 2011, in time for the grand opening of the new wing (where installations of art will continue throughout this year).
The galleries in the West Wing are each named after benefactors / donors to the museum. I can't remember who, specifically, but it was made up of the usual suspects.
The seaworthiness of the new building was certainly tested, last night.