How scandals, protests plunge some of world's greatest museums into crisis

The latest attacks on private philanthropy remove one of the only methods museums have to survive

Most art world squabbles never make it past the echoes of white-walled galleries, but a recent series of scandals and protests have spilled into the mainstream, plunging some of the world’s greatest museums into a crisis that hasn’t been seen since the furore of the 1980s culture wars.

Back then it was a group of senators attempting to defund the National Endowment for the Arts. This time, it’s private philanthropy that’s in the crosshairs. And it’s not politicians leading the charge but the artists themselves.

The latest head to roll is Warren Kanders, who stepped down from the board of the Whitney