A Simple Art Auction in Laguna Hangs by a Threat : Crime: A bomb scare forces nearly 200 collectors out of Diane Nelson Gallery. Many of them have their own theories about the caller’s motive.

It was to have been a pleasant little art auction Saturday night, with a small part of the proceeds going to charity. But when auctioneer Richard File brought his gavel down after selling item No. 11, he had a surprising message for the nearly 200 collectors crowded into the gallery on Forest Avenue.

“Someone called saying there’s a bomb planted in the building,” he announced with a touch of incredulity. And so, on the Diane Nelson Gallery’s final night--the recession, Nelson says, has forced her out of business--the question on everyone’s lips was: Would the place go out with a bang?

Clutching their stemware, the art patrons reluctantly filed out of the building at 8:20, dispersing to the sidewalk and rear parking lot to sip Chablis, comment on the chilly January night and ponder what a squad of Laguna Beach police officers might turn up during their search of the building.

The answer, Sgt. Mike Hall reported at 8:55, was “nothing unusual.” But rather than close the case, the inconclusive police investigation only launched an evening of amateur sleuthing among the patrons, who quickly reassembled to resume the bidding.

“I thought it was a plan to steal the art,” said one San Clemente woman, who herself had bought a painting, listed at $1,700, for $850.

The woman, who declined to give her name, suggested that the bomb scare was a diversionary move that would allow the art thief free rein over a deserted building.

Before she could complete her theory, however, her friend, Trisha Donovan, interrupted: “It’s probably just competition,” Donovan said, pointing an accusatory finger at a cutthroat underworld of Laguna art dealers. “People in the art community would do anything here,” the Newport Beach woman added ominously.

Rather than a fellow gallery owner, Davin Lin, 11, speculated the scare was a plot against art itself, and not just the abstract contemporary works that the gallery spotlighted. “It’s somebody who hates art,” the boy from Fullerton said. “All kinds of art. Probably a terrorist.”

The terrorist theme was picked up by Jeremy Megroz, 21, but the Laguna resident placed the motive squarely in the realm of class, rather than aesthetic, warfare.

“It’s someone who knows art and someone who knows what he’s doing,” Megroz said, trying to put the pieces together.

“If you’re someone who doesn’t like the bourgeois attitude, the attitude of people who buy art and don’t know what the (heck) they’re buying, then why not give ‘em a little scare?” reasoned Megroz, a political science major at San Diego State.

The Megroz theory was echoed by Newport Beach attorney Charles Schwenck. “It’s probably somebody who’s out of work, or a homeless person. Hell, if I was out of work, I’d probably be upset too that people were laying down thousands of dollars on art,” said Schwenck, who said he picked up a ceramic sculpture for $750.

Hall, who noted that making a false bomb threat is a misdemeanor, said that sources had suggested “the motive might be an artist who was not invited to the auction. The speculation was that the motive was to disrupt the business.”

Asked about this possibility, Nelson quickly cut off the questioner.

“No, no, no, no. I heard no such rumor. But I think it’s very sad. It’s very pathetic. But it didn’t work,” she said, noting that virtually all the bidders returned to the auction after the evacuation. “That’s right, it didn’t work.” Nelson kept a tight lip on the rest of her suspicions, declining further comment on the case.

Of all the would-be Columbos and Miss Marples, perhaps Kevin Schmissrauter had the most plausible explanation. Surveying the standing room only crowd, Laguna’s haut monde packed together like so many New York City straphangers, the graphic designer from Irvine posited: “It must have been someone in this very room. By dispersing the crowd, he could have grabbed himself a better seat.”

“I think I know who it is,” said artist Serge Armando, whose works were among the 60 being auctioned. Draining his glass of Chablis, the usually talkative Frenchman became coy: “But I cannot tell you. It is impossible.”

Armando’s speculations were interrupted when one of his works, an “abstract geometric” painting he titled “SA36.91,” came up to the block. The painting, which had been listed at $4,000, brought $750.

“I have no more comment,” Armando grumbled.

As it happened, the Frenchman was not the only artist who saw his works sell for a fraction of what the gallery described as the “retail” price.

Antonio Arellanes saw two of his “$1,200” paintings go for $850. Asked about the price, he managed a faint smile and said, “I feel OK, I suppose.”

Of the proceeds, Nelson said, about 5% would be donated to the Laguna Art Musuem, as would the receipts of a $10 admission charge. Monday, Nelson reported that “a great amount” had been raised but declined to specify how much.