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NORTH ATTLEBORO - The school committee voted Wednesday to sell a valuable Russian painting that hung for a half-century in the Community School, but there are still a couple of hang-ups: selectmen must also approve the sale, and now there's the threat of a lawsuit that could keep the artwork in town.

The school committee voted 5-2 to sell the masterpiece, which was removed for safekeeping when the town learned it could be worth more than $1 million. The fate of the Alexandre Iacovleff painting, "Afghans," donated to the town by Charles Thompson in 1951, now rests in the hands of selectmen.

Prior to the vote, Gregory Smith, Thompson's grandson and the owner of Standard Chain in North Attleboro, made a last ditch attempt to change the committee's mind.

And there was what school committee members took as a not so subtle threat of a lawsuit. One member called it "blackmail."

Smith's friend and attorney, Stephen Clapp, suggested that the school committee hand over authority for the painting to a charitable trust with three trustees appointed by the family, school committee and selectmen. The trust would be to foster appreciation for the fine arts and the Smith-Thompson family would make a $50,000 donation to help the trust decide what to do with the painting. "The trust would encourage the appreciation of fine arts and would have full authority to sell the painting. Encouraging an appreciation of fine arts is primary and what happens to the painting would be secondary," Clapp said.

Superintendent Rick Smith urged the committee not to accept the proposal, saying the school department would be handing over the painting to a trust that would never agree to sell it.

Clapp said a lawsuit could be initiated to stop the sale of the painting, arguing that in 1951 school committees did not have the authority to accept gifts. The lawsuit would not necessarily have to come from the family, he said.

"The resolution of these issues would be the province of a court if the parties cannot resolve them among themselves," Clapp said. "The legal procedure available for a court resolution would include a ten-taxpayer suit to enforce the purpose of the gift."

Some members of the school committee said they found the last-minute proposal offensive.

"The $50,000 is almost a form a blackmail," said member Kenneth Pickering.

Clapp disagreed, saying, "The $50,000 is not blackmail. The $50,000 would allow the trustees a free hand to decide what to do with the painting."

He also said the Smith Thompson family is open to the possibility of selling the painting if it would honor the intent of the gift.

School committee member William Kummer said he wasn't buying it.

"The way I read this, you're saying accept our proposal or you'll take us to court. It's a slap in the face to us," he said. School committee Chairman David Manoogian said the school department would "vigorously defend" itself if the sale were challenged in court.

Superintendent Smith said proceeds from the sale of the painting should be used for an educational fund.

"My job can be boiled down to one sentence: to do what is in the best interest of the children of North Attleboro in the present and in the future. This painting presents us with an unique opportunity to do something good for the children of North Attleboro," he said.

Representative Town Meeting would have the ultimate say about what to do with the proceeds, but Smith said the money should be placed in the North Attleboro Education Fund, which would be renamed the Charles Thompson Education Fund.

The money from the painting would never be spent, but the interest could be tapped by the school department to fund the arts or other school activities, he said.

Kummer agreed.

"I think all the funds should go into the education fund, so 100 years from now children could still go to the Museum of Fine Arts on Mr. Thompson's nickle and maybe you'd generate two or three artists a year from those kids," he said. "What a salute that would be to the man."

School committee members Anthony Calcia and Joan Meilan voted against selling the painting.

"It's presumptuous to assume we know better than the family what the intent of the gift was," Calcia said. "I'd like to encourage a dialogue that would help us come to a consensus."

"The painting was a gift to the town, not a donation. There's a difference," Meilan said.

The majority backed selling the painting and using the money to promote the arts in the schools.

"If the original intent was to spark and appreciation of art by our students, then I think by having it hidden away for so long was a disservice," school committee member Christopher Frost said. " It's like having a Ferrari in your driveway and not knowing how to drive. I think the best way to honor the gift is to cultivate more appreciation of the arts, and if we sell the painting we can create a means to do that."