The big Bridget could go. The rest will have lost money on the sale.

The price you see includes 20% buyers premium - BA doesn’t get that. BA also pays its own fees to Sotheby’s. Assume at least 35% in total.

You then have all the staff time involved plus the cost of replacing the sold art. It is purely political.

The Marc Quinn for eg is 8 images. BA gets £5k net and has 8 slots on its walls to fill with the proceeds.