In the Arts: Texas Foundation to Sell Valuable Matisses

Fort Worth’s Burnett Foundation is auctioning four Henri Matisse sculptures it acquired in 1982 and formerly displayed in a public park, a sale that could bring tens of millions of dollars to the organization, the Associated Press writes.

Neils Agather, executive director of the group, said the sculpture series known as “The Backs” has become too valuable to justify keeping the works in light of the foundation’s mission to support health, education, the arts, and community services in the Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Several museums also own sets of “The Backs,” a series of large reliefs, numbered I to IV, depicting increasingly abstract images of a woman from behind. “Back IV” was recently sold for nearly $48-million.

In other arts news:

● Louisville Orchestra musicians, whose employer has filed for bankruptcy, will hold a kickoff concert next week for a new organization they formed to raise money to maintain a classical-music presence in the city, according to The Courier-Journal

The event, called Keep Louisville Symphonic, was proposed to the orchestra before last month’s bankruptcy filing. Musicians said its activities would not interfere with their responsibility to the symphony, which was denied court permission to annul its current contract with players.

● Carnegie Hall on Wednesday unveiled plans for a $200-million renovation that will add a publicly accessible roof terrace and two-dozen educational spaces to the storied New York venue, reports The Wall Street Journal.