The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will sell one of two important works by American realist Edward Hopper in its collections to boost funds for new acquisitions.

Museum officials announced that they would de-accession the 1934 oil painting East Wind Over Weehawken, a somber New Jersey street scene lined with Victorian houses. It is slated for Christie's December auction of American paintings.

The auction estimate is $22 million to $28 million.

Hopper, who died in 1967 at age 84, only produced about 360 paintings in his career. The rare major works to hit the market have soared recently. In May, his Blackwell's Island brought $19.1 million. It went to a private collector who sold it to the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art for an undisclosed amount. 

The record price for Hopper at auction remains at $26.9 million paid in 2006 for Hotel Window, which sold from actor Steve Martin's collection.

The academy plans to keep Hopper's Apartment Houses, from 1923.