A Fort Dodge physician, Dr. Richard Votta, made the highest bid in the live auction at the Blanden Memorial Art Museum's Art is For Everyone auction Saturday evening - and for $800 he didn't even see what he was buying.
What Votta purchased in the final round of the live auction was a few dozen pieces of art that went unbid in the silent auction. He bought them for the surprise - to take home and discover for himself - but also to support the museum, he said.
"I'm just curious," he said. "I won't mind getting a few interesting pieces."
More than 200 people attended Saturday evening's event in the Bioscience and Health Sciences Building at Iowa Central Community College, which sold more than 300 deaccessioned and orphan art that were once part of the Blanden's collection. Near the conclusion of the live auction, 161 bid numbers had been distributed to potential buyers. The live auction featured 34 unique and diverse works of art, and several hundred silent auction and buy-it-now items.
Although it had been the center of local controversy because no list of the items for sale had been made available to the public, the auction went on as planned and raised around $10,000 for the Blanden, Blanden Charitable Foundation board member Mike Frischmeyer said.
"This is a tremendous thing the community has done tonight," Margaret Skove, the Blanden Memorial Art Museum's director, said of the support of the auction. "The turnout is good, and these items are going to homes in the community. That's what we wanted rather than having them possibly end up in another country. The items were given to us with good intent and we want to keep them in the community."
Skove said she chose the 34 items for the live auction by their potential for public appeal.
"I tried to look for items among our paintings, sculptures, furniture and 3-D items that would really stand out," she said.
Many of the live auction items sold for around $400.
Jean Johnson purchased a set of cloisonne vases created by an unknown artist for $200.
The items caught her attention because of their ornate designs.
"I collect vases," she said, "and have painted some porcelain, though we aren't sure of its date."
Another high bid item in the live auction was a hand-hammered brass ceremonial tray from the 18th century, which sold for $440 to Ben and Andrea Johnson.
The proceeds from the auction will be used for the conservation and restoration of pieces in the Blanden's collection and for the possible purchase of new art items by the Blanden Charitable Foundation to fit with the museum's existing collection, Skove said.
Contact Emilie Nelson at (515) 573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net
