The news is the latest sign of the changing climate in the art world toward the Sacklers, who are major donors to museums. Family members own Purdue Pharma, which makes the painkiller OxyContin and is facing hundreds of lawsuits as a result of the epidemic of opioid addiction. But the Thursday announcement, affecting Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London, as well as Tate Liverpool and Tate St. Ives in Cornwall, could have a bigger impact in the art world. In an email, a spokesman for the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler family said, “We deeply sympathise with all the communities, families and individuals affected by the addiction crisis in America. The allegations made against family members in relation to this are strongly denied and will be vigorously defended in court.” He did not comment on Tate’s decision.

Source: New York Times March 22, 2019 00:33 UTC