Paging LACMA! The Getty Museum!! Eli Broad!!

There may be one final chance for the last Vermeer in private hands - and several other masterpieces...

http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-wk-quick27.3oct27,0,1527200,print.story?coll=cl-calendar

Mike Boehm LA Times October 27th 2005

Wynn gallery to close. Quoting an unnamed source "close to" resort magnate Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas Sun has reported that Wynn is planning to close the small but select Wynn Collection gallery at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, perhaps to replace the art showcase with retail space. A Wynn spokeswoman, Denise Randazzo, said Wednesday that "we have not made any official decisions yet" on whether the gallery will close.

Just 14 paintings hang there, including Pablo Picasso's "Le Reve," a Rembrandt self-portrait and a recently acquired Vermeer. Admission was $15 when the resort opened six months ago, but was reduced last month to $6 for tourists, $3 for Nevada residents.

OK. Now Wynn has in the past parted with - one way or the other - a number of his finest paintings. Still, the closing of this gallery does not mean he will be selling some or all of these paintings.

Clearly, though, here is an opportunity for a LA institution to see if they can create an art-oriented attraction in the space that could both attract customers to Wynn's casinos and also provide the cultural/educational component he wants. The prize for that might be to pry some of those paintings off his walls.