How would you interpret these phrases in the context?
Poor Tom. And also the forty-odd artists who will suffer from this, but somehow I worry most for Tom. He believed in Advancing American Art, and not just the free ride to Europe. Now he has to hang his head, call Paris and Prague, and explain the show isn’t coming. They will dismantle it, sell off these treasures to the first low bid so the Department of State can recover the taxpayers’ cash. The boss will make Tommy do the worst of it. The O’Keeffe already went for fifty dollars he said, salt in the wound.

How would you interpret these phrases in the context?
1. dismantle it.
Does it mean they would unpack the pictures? Or does it mean they would call off the exhibition?
2. the first low bid.
Thanks! And It’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.

Question

How would you interpret these phrases in the context?
Poor Tom. And also the forty-odd artists who will suffer from this, but somehow I worry most for Tom. He believed in Advancing American Art, and not just the free ride to Europe. Now he has to hang his head, call Paris and Prague, and explain the show isn’t coming. They will dismantle it, sell off these treasures to the first low bid so the Department of State can recover the taxpayers’ cash. The boss will make Tommy do the worst of it. The O’Keeffe already went for fifty dollars he said, salt in the wound.

How would you interpret these phrases in the context?
1. dismantle it.
Does it mean they would unpack the pictures? Or does it mean they would call off the exhibition?
2. the first low bid.
Thanks! And It’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.

Answer

"Dismantle" means take apart something you have assembled e.g. a temporary structure or a system.  Here, the meaning is a physical one.  He had physically set up the exhibition but now he has to remove it.

"The first low bid" suggests that the government just want to sell the treasures as soon as possible.  So instead of waiting for a good offer, they will accept the first one.