January 22, 2010 - Auction Central News

Couple increases pledge to Michigan State Univ. art museum by $2M

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A couple who gave their money and names to Michigan State University’s planned art museum are kicking in an extra $2 million toward its growing cost.

Michigan State says Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad and his wife Edythe have raised their pledge to $28 million.

The school said Wednesday it has raised about $33 million for the museum but says the estimated cost has risen to $40 million to $45 million from the original $30 million.

University trustees voted in December to build the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. The school plans to break ground March 16 and open the museum in early 2012.

London-based architect Zaha Hadid won an international design competition for the museum in January 2008.

___

On the Net: http://www.broadmuseum.msu.edu

AP-WS-01-21-10 0836EST

Bankrupt Canadian auction house Ritchie’s now a mere memory

TORONTO (ACNI) – Visitors to the Web site for Canadian auction house Ritchie’s will find that the company’s last connection to the sector it once dominated no longer exists. A notice on the company’s site, www.ritchies.com, confirms that a bankruptcy order was issued against Ritchie’s Inc. on Oct. 26, 2009, with Grant Thornton Limited of Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto, shown as the court-appointed trustee.

Once known for its multimillion-dollar art sales held in conjunction with Sotheby’s, Ritchie’s had been in financial trouble since last summer, at least. Sotheby’s ended its 8-year association with Ritchie’s after the latter company failed to meet a deadline for payment to consignors. But it was their landlord, Hildegard Hammer, who petitioned the Canadian Superior Court to force Ritchie’s into bankruptcy, claiming she was owed $131,000 in back rent.

Following published reports of staff upheaval, a seemingly closed gallery and “nervous consignors,” Auction Central News spoke to the owner and CEO of Ritchie’s Auctioneers, Ira Hopmeyer, in August of 2009. At the time, Hopmeyer rubbished media reports, describing them as “sour grapes,” and “misconstrued information from sore losers…”Hopmeyer, who bought Ritchie’s Auctioneers 16 years ago, said he took the initiative to assume control at the auction house after certain events took place that he says occurred without his knowledge.

Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper had reported on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009, that a small contingent of consignors had congregated in Ritchie’s parking lot the day before, hoping to collect either unsold items or money owed to them by the auction house. Instead, the Globe and Mail newspaper said, they found an unattended gallery and a sign on the door advising that the company was on “summer holiday” until Aug. 17. The sign also indicated that the auction scheduled for that day had been postponed.

Further, the article stated that 27 employees had been laid off for financial reasons and that the company’s president and chief operating officer, Stephen Ranger, had resigned.

At that time, Hopmeyer told Auction Central News, “Yes, former management laid off some staff, and yes, Ranger resigned previous to the layoffs. He had tried to increase his stake in the company and made an offer that was not accepted. He then made a second offer for a lesser share that was accepted, but he later reneged…He wanted [the increased stake] for nothing. I’m not interested in giving it away.”

In an Aug. 13, 2009 blog posting attributed to Stephen Ranger, Ritchie’s former president wrote in part: “The central problem was a liquidity issue that I as a former minority shareholder had no control over, none…Anyone out there who actually believes that I didn’t try repeatedly to fix this situation should examine the logic. Why would someone with as much time, energy and commitment to this business leave if I hadn’t exhausted every avenue to try and make it right? There have been no underhanded machinations here. Everyone knows at this point that I tried repeatedly to buy this business, to fix it, to salvage it, but ultimately could not.”

Hopmeyer – who acted as interim president from 1999 until “2004 or 2005” – said he had considered Ranger to have been “very competent with the auction part” of Ritchie’s operation, “but not the business part.”

On Aug. 3, Hopmeyer stepped in to assume the executive management reins at Ritchie’s. He said a trimmed-down team of “loyal employees” had been reinstated to pick up where they left off before the shakeout.

“The overhead had gotten out of control,” Hopmeyer said in that same interview. “We’re not a New York or London auction house. There will be no more fancy cocktail parties, flying around the country or paying outside consultants exorbitant amounts of money…”

Hopmeyer said that in an effort to maintain transparency and allay misapprehensions, he had been posting updates on Ritchie’s Web site. The final posting, according to The Canadian Press in an Oct. 28, 2009 online article, was “a terse message to consignors and secured and unsecured creditors.”

Those who believe they may have a claim against Ritchie’s can contact the trustee, Grant Thornton Limited, by calling 416-366-0100. Additional information may be found on Grant Thornton’s Web site: http://www.grantthornton.ca.

# # #

Five Georgia art museums form partnership

ATLANTA (AP) – Five art museums in Georgia say they have formed a partnership to share their resources and collections.

The five are the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Albany Museum of Art, The Columbus Museum, the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens and the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah.

Participants say the during a three-year pilot initiative, the museums will draw on each other’s resources for exhibitions and loans of individual objects, professional development workshops and consultations and collection storage.

___

AP-CS-01-21-10 1003EST

Moisture threatening Gettysburg Cyclorama painting

Detail of The Battle of Gettysburg as seen on the Gettysburg Cyclorama. Image courtesy of The Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Water is dripping onto the massive Cyclorama painting at Gettysburg National Military Park’s new $103 million visitor center.

Spokeswoman Katie Lawhon says the problem is merely “condensation” that occurs at various times of the year, but minutes from a park staff meeting say the roof of the new visitor’s center is leaking.

An internal report says the Cyclorama might have to be shut down for two to three months to fix the leak, but Lawhon says she can’t say if or when the park plans to shut down the painting.

The 124-year-old painting is 377 feet long and 42 feet high and depicts various aspects of the battle in a panoramic setting. The painting was restored as part of a five-year, $16 million project completed in 2008.

___

Information from: Gettysburg Times,

http://www.gettysburgtimes.com

AP-ES-01-21-10 0725EST

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Overhead view of the Gettysburg Cyclorama in its entirety. Image courtesy of The Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation.

Int’l Society of Appraisers to mark 30th year in Toronto, April 30-May 3

TORONTO – The International Society of Appraisers (ISA) will host a conference in Toronto from April 30-May 3, 2010, with museum tours and seminars conducted by noted authorities in the fields of fine art, antiques and residential contents; and gems and jewelry. The conference, titled Assets 2010, will mark the group’s 30th birthday.

Conference coordinator Kathryn Minard, ISA, CAPP, and conference co-chairs Irene Szylinger and Catherine Williams, together with Gems & Jewelry program coordinator Jim Poag, have arranged a lineup of credentialed powerhouse presenters for each session, a duo of dynamic keynote speakers, Robert Ramsay and David Ben; and scheduled tours of such important venues as the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics. Additional visits are planned to the Bata Shoe Museum, the Textile Museum of Canada, Corona Jewelry Company, the Stephen Bulger Gallery and a private residence housing the Jamieson Tribal Art collection.

Minard said an emphasis has been placed on making the conference both affordable and flexible. ISA has arranged generously discounted rates for participants at the host hotel, the Park Hyatt Toronto in downtown Ontario. It is close to public transportation and is surrounded by a wide variety of eating establishments for all tastes and budgets.

While the conference will have three distinct sections, participants will be encouraged to use an a la carte method of choosing among the sessions to create a focused agenda for themselves.

The Fine Art program will feature sessions on the art market, contemporary photography, Inuit art, authentication, insurance appraisals, cross-border appraisals and report writing. Presenters will include Nicholas Metivier, owner of Nicholas Metivier Gallery; private art dealer Chris Varley of Christopher Varley Fine Art; freelance curator, writer and lecturer Patterson Sims; auctioneer Robert Heffel of Heffel Fine Art; Doina Popescu, curator of The Black Star Photography Collection, Ryerson University; Pat Feheley, associate professor at the School of Image Arts, Ryerson University; Vivian Ebersman and Ann-Louise Seago of AXA Art Insurance headquartered in New York; Peter Paul Biro, Art Access & Research Limited; Marie-Claude Corbeil from the Canadian Conservation Institute; Cathy Peters, ISA, CAPP; and Cross Border Appraisal presenters Leon Castner, ISA, CAPP; Kathryn Minard, ISA, CAPP; Norman Hurst, ISA, CAPP; and Sonia Lismer from the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.

The Antiques and Residential Contents program will feature sessions on hallmarks, quilts, Victorian, style and design, paperweights, insurance appraisals, appraising pop culture, cross border appraisals and report writing. Presenters include some of the same presenters in the Fine Art program plus Bill Whetstone and Danusia Nikelwicz of the Hallmark Research Institute; Brian Musselewhite, assistant curator of the Royal Ontario Museum; Judy Lyons, ISA, AM, CPPAG of the American Quilters Association; and Lee Dunbar, a collection management specialist with Leila Dunbar Appraisals and Consulting.

The Gems & Jewelry session adds costume jewelry expert Carole Tanenbaum; Dave Sawatzky from Korite International, the Calgary-based maker of Ammolite jewelry; Ravi Poddar, representing Ontario-based Byrex Gems; John Borzak, author of the Rolex Report; and Paul Cassarino, ISA, CASPP, presenter of the report-writing workshop.

The cost to attend starts at $575 for ISA members with super-saver early registration (through Jan. 31, 2020). Rates are slightly higher after that. Special rates are available for single-day events and for spouses/guests. The tours and events are also very reasonably priced. To register online, go to http://www.assets2010.org.

Site of the course is the Park Hyatt Toronto, 4 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E8 Canada, tel. 416-925-1234. A group discount rate is available through ISA for accommodations at the hotel. Hotel registration is available online at the above address. For more information contact the International Society of Appraisers, 737 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60611, tel. 312-981-6778 or e-mail isa@isa-appraisers.org. Visit them online at www.isa-appraisers.org.

# # #

Sign up for daily highlights by email