The New York-based Metropolitan Museum of Art is considering selling some of its artworks to make up operational costs as the museum is falling short of $150 million in revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. /CFP

The NPR cited Max Hollein, the museum's director, as saying that the museum's attendance is way below compared with that before the pandemic. /CFP

The pandemic caused the museum to lay off around 80 employees in customer service and retail departments and cut salaries of top executives. /CFP

The deaccessioning is regulated by the Association of Art Museum Directors, an organization of art museum directors from the United States, Mexico and Canada. /CFP

The guidelines on deaccessioning have been relaxed since the beginning of 2020 to allow museums to cope with threats by the pandemic. /CFP