Southern California's Art Scorecard

By SUZANNE MUCHNIC

Oct. 7, 1990 12 AM PT

COLLECTIONS LOST

A number of major local collections have been lost over the years--either at auction or to museums outside Southern California. Following is a short list of some of the most significant losses.

* Walter C. Arensberg’s collection of 20th-Century art and pre-Columbian art was given to UCLA in 1944 on the condition that a building be provided for it within five years but withdrawn when that condition wasn’t fulfilled. Arensberg gave the collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1951.

* Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s collection of modern and contemporary art was tentatively offered to the City of Beverly Hills, in 1964, with the intention that the collection be lodged at Greystone Mansion. After entertaining several offers, Hirshhorn in 1966 gave his collection to the Smithsonian Institution, which built the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington.

* Edward G. Robinson’s collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings was loaned to the County Museum of Art in 1956 but sold in 1957 to Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos for $3.5 million as part of a divorce settlement. Robinson assembled a second collection that was sold for $5.1 million to Armand Hammer in 1973 after the actor’s death.

* Hal B. Wallis’ collection of Impressionist paintings was loaned to the County Museum of Art but sold at auction for $39.6 million in 1989. The sale is currently tied up in a legal dispute with the museum.

* William and Edith Mayer Goetz’s collection of Impressionist and modern paintings was sold at auction in 1988 for $85 million.

* Edwin Janss’ collection of contemporary art was sold at auction in 1989 for $16 million.

* Billy Wilder’s collection of modern and contemporary art was sold at auction in 1989 for $32.6 million.

* Stephen White’s collection of photography was sold in February for an undisclosed sum to the Tokyo Fuji Museum.

* The Harry A. Franklin Family collection of African art was sold at auction in April for $7.1 million.

* Graham Nash’s collection of photography was sold at auction in April for $2.4 million.

* Kirk Douglas’ collection of Impressionist and modern art was sold at auction in May for $5.9 million.

COLLECTIONS GAINED

The news is not all bad. Following is a select list of how some major local museums have fared over the years in gaining collections.

Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens

The museum was established with the Henry E. Huntington collection of British paintings, furniture, sculpture and decorative arts in 1911; Adele S. Browning Memorial Collection of Old Master paintings, donated in 1978; Virginia Steele Scott collection of American art, donated in 1980.

J. Paul Getty Museum

The museum was established with the J. Paul Getty collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, 17th- and 18th-Century French decorative arts and Old Master paintings, donated in 1953 and augmented with additional gifts through 1976; Peter Ludwig collection of illuminated manuscripts, purchased in 1983; nine photography collections including those of Samuel J. Wagstaff, Arnold Crane, Bruno Bischofberger and Volker Kahmen/George Heusch, purchased in 1984; Molly and Walter Bareiss collection of 420 Greek vases, purchased in 1986.

L.A. County Museum of Art

William Randolph Hearst collections covering a wide swath of history, donated in 1946-1952; David E. Bright collection of modern paintings, donated in 1967; Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck collection of Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan art, purchased in 1969 and supplemented with gifts of other Heeramaneck collections in 1973; B. Gerald Cantor collection of sculpture by Rodin and other 19th-Century French artists, donated in 1973; Constance McCormick Fearing collection of pre-Columbian art, donated in 1983: Hans Cohn collection of ancient glass, donated in 1983; Proctor Stafford collection of ancient art from western Mexico, purchased in 1986; Joe D. Price collection of Japanese art, promised gift in 1983; Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert collection of silver and mosaics, donated over the last decade; Robert Gore Rifkind collection of German Expressionist art, donated in 1983 in conjunction with museum’s purchase of Rifkind’s German Expressionist library; Edwin Binney III Turkish art, donated in 1986; Raymond and Frances Bushell collection of netsukes, donated in 1988.

Museum of Contemporary Art

The Giuseppe Panza di Biumo collection of Abstract Expressionist and Pop art, purchased for $11.5 million in 1984; Barry Lowen collection of contemporary art, donated in 1985; 18 paintings, sculptures and drawings, created between 1930 and 1960, from the Taft and Rita Schreiber collection, donated in 1989; a group of works form the Philip and Beatrice Gersh collection, 1989.

Newport Harbor Museum of Art

Avco Financial Services contemporary painting and works on paper, donated in 1971; Wells Fargo collection of contemporary works on paper, donated in 1987.

Laguna Art Museum

Paul Outerbridge photography estate, donated in 1968; 76 works from the Virginia Steele Scott collection of American art, donated in 1980; 280 works from the Carl S. Dentzel collection of American art, donated in 1984.

THE UNCOMMITTED

The fate of many other collections is pending. Following is a select list of some local uncommitted collections.

Walter Annenberg collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings.

Donald Bren collection of modern and contemporary art.

Eli and Edythe Broad collection of contemporary art.

Douglas S. Cramer collection of contemporary art.

Joe and Barbara Goldenberg collection of African and pre-Columbian art.

Robert Halff collection of modern and contemporary art.

Sidney and Audrey Irmas collection of photography.

Jerome Joss collection of Indonesian and African art.

Helen and Robert Kuhn collection of African, Indonesian and pre-Columbian art.

Jay Last collection of African art.