State urged to investigate Fresno Met auction

Posted at 11:21 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010
By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee

A local attorney is asking the state Attorney General's Office to investigate whether it is proper for the Fresno Metropolitan Museum to sell off its collection to satisfy its debts.

Fresno attorney Robert Rosati's action comes as the museum is scheduled to auction its non-art property today, with proceeds going toward the $4 million in debt that led in part to the museum's demise last month.

Rosati claims that The Met, in being granted nonprofit status, agreed that its assets were public and would be used for public purposes. If the museum ever dissolved, Rosati contends, its assets should continue to be used for a public purpose.

That would mean, Rosati said, transferring the items to another public charity such as the Fresno Historical Society or the Fresno Art Museum.

The Met's collection will be "sold to who knows whom," Rosati said. "This is art given by people in the Central Valley for people in the Central Valley. It should stay in the Central Valley."


Rosati is making a similar complaint about The Met's historic building, which now is in the hands of the city. The city took title to the building, the former home to The Bee, and surrounding property late last year after paying off a defaulted $15 million bank loan for the museum.

The museum received state grant money, Rosati said, under terms that the building would continue to be used as a "public forum." Leasing the building to a charter school -- which has been discussed -- or another private enterprise would not be a public use, Rosati said.

"In the complaint, I ask the AG's Office to investigate and see if my contentions are correct," Rosati said.

A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office said Tuesday that the complaint has not yet been received.

Museum board President Stewart Randall said he has not seen Rosati's complaint and could not comment. He did say, however, that a few people who made donations have sought their return. But to earn a charitable-donation deduction, rights to the object are signed away, Randall said.

Though The Met is scheduled to auction its non-art property today, still to be determined is how thousands of pieces of art acquired by The Met will be sold. Museum officials have said they are negotiating over an auctioneer and a sale date. They estimate the collection's value at $3 million to $6 million. Proceeds from both auctions will go to The Met's creditors.

"Hopefully, we can preserve these assets for the Valley," Rosati said, "and preserve the building for a public purpose."



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Hundreds attend auction for Met museum property
Posted at 11:51 AM on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010
By George Hostetter / The Fresno Bee


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Hundreds of bargain-hunters gathered Wednesday in downtown Fresno to bid on the first of two batches of property from the defunct Fresno Metropolitan Museum.

More than 600 lots containing items such as office furniture, science exhibits and lighting fixtures were sold in a sometimes dramatic auction held beneath a large tent on the former museum's grounds. The museum's art collection will be sold later.

Proceeds will help pay off The Met's $4 million debt. The 25-year-old museum closed its doors for good Jan. 5, the victim of high expenses and plummeting revenues.

"It's so sad," said bidder Pam Frazier of Fresno, who, with daughter Anika Frazier, was in the market for antiques. "There are so many memories here."

Controversy also lurked in the background. Fresno attorney Robert Rosati has asked the state Attorney General's Office to investigate whether it is proper for The Met to sell off its collection to satisfy its debts.
Hundreds attend auction for Met property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Frank Brando looks over a delivery cart from the Fresno Republican newspaper beneath a sign from The Fresno Bee. Fresno Metropolitan Museum property was auctioned Wednesday morning in an effort to reduce a $4 million debt.
Hundreds attend auction for Met property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Rod Sabbatini of Fresno looks over reproduction artwork in preparation for the auction of property of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds attend auction for Met museum property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Andrew Cromwell of Hanford bids Wednesday during the auction of property of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum in downtown Fresno.
Hundreds attend auction for Met museum property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Scientific and education interactive displays are up for bid at a property auction at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. The amount the auction raised was not available Wednesday.
Hundreds attend auction for Met museum property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Janet Flores checks out a storage room of Christmas decor, including a Santa costume, one of many nonart items that were up for bid.
Hundreds attend auction for Met museum property
JOHN WALKER / THE FRESNO BEE

Two marble fu dogs, weighing about 5,000 pounds each and donated to the museum by the Republic of China's National Palace Museum in 1984 when the Met opened, went on the block with an opening bid of $5,000 for the pair and rapidly rose to a staggering final bid of $21,000.
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A spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office said Wednesday that the complaint had not yet been received.

But sentiment and legal challenges took a back seat to shrewdness on this day. Bidders viewed The Met's failure to watch its bottom line as a potential boon to theirs.

"We run a business, too," said bidder Diane Anderson, owner of an environmental testing laboratory in Clovis who was interested in software. "We have to be practical."

One of the day's highlights came in the early afternoon when the two marble fu (or foo) dogs went on the block. They weigh about 5,000 pounds each and were donated to the museum by the Republic of China's National Palace Museum in 1984, when The Met opened.

Bidding started at $5,000 for the pair and rose in $1,000 increments to $19,000. At the end, only a man and a woman were still in the hunt.

She was in command at $19,000. Auctioneer J.R. Searcy looked at the man: "Do I have $20,000?"

The man hesitated -- he wanted to bump only $500. Searcy said OK.

But the woman quickly raised her price to $20,000. The man gave it one last shot -- $20,500. But the woman was not to be denied, raising the paper with her bidding number to signal $21,000.

Searcy and his staff used their best auctioneering tactics, but the man folded.

Sold -- two historic foo dogs to Kristie Serimian of Selma.

The crowd applauded.

Serimian said she hasn't decided where to put the two statues, which are supposed to have protective powers.

"They're a beautiful piece of art," Serimian said. "They're a part of Fresno's history."

The marble dogs and several art exhibits were sold Wednesday because their size and weight made them prohibitively expensive to transport. The rest of the museum's art collection, with an estimated value of $3 million to $6 million, will be sold later at another auction, the place and site still to be determined.

The amount of money the auction raised was not available Wednesday afternoon. Searcy declined to release the figure, and museum officials were unable to provide a tally.

Some bidders spent thousands of dollars.

There were six lots of Haworth ergonomic chairs, five chairs to each lot. The first lot sold for $1,000. Auction rules permitted a winning bidder on the first of multiple lots of the same items to buy the remaining lots at the same price.

The bidder chose to buy all six lots at $1,000 each -- 30 chairs at $200 each.

The chatter among several unsuccessful bidders was that the chairs retail for at least three times that price.

The enthusiasm of auctioneers and bidders waned by the middle of the unseasonably warm afternoon. Barely half of the 400 or so folding chairs under the tent were filled when a "Fresno Bee antique circulation sign" went up for sale.

The former Met building, built in 1922, had been home to The Bee for more than 50 years.

Twenty seconds after bidding began, Searcy said, "Sold -- $300."