A first part of the collection, 25 works out of 300, was sold on Friday in Dallas, Texas, and brought in around 40 million kronor. The collection includes many well-known works that Americans have seen used in calendars, on magazine covers, and even in marketing war bonds throughout the 114-year history of the boy scout movement. They have become a part of American everyday life, simply.
The boy scout movement filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after receiving numerous allegations of sexual abuse from former boy scouts. A plan was made to continue running the movement while compensating the victims. One step in this is to sell the art collection, which will take place in auctions spread out over several years.
Since the bankruptcy filing, over 80,000 former scouts have come forward with reports of abuse. Of these, 64,000 have provided detailed accounts.
