Should Artists’ Estates Be Protected For The World?

The estates of Francis Bacon and Andre Breton are currently in danger of being broken up and sold. “Our instinct cries out to protect the ‘integrity’ of such inheritances by keeping them together. But is that justified? Should the state, as it does in France, have a say? Or should great art have a life of its own when its creator dies, beyond the control of its maker and his loved ones?”