ByCraig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
The Contemporary Museum curator James Jensen
shows John Melville Kelly's etching "Leilani on the Beach,"
one of the works to be auctioned Saturday.

On Saturday, that all changes. The museum is auctioning off nearly 300 pieces of art, nearly 20 percent of its collection.

Lest you think the Contemporary Museum is becoming the Contemporary Gallery, this kind of collection-pruning is becoming the norm for museums in the budget-crisis '90s. Curators call it "deaccessioning," getting rid of the works that don't fit the museum's "mission statement" or "scope of collection."

"Deaccessioning is always tough," said TCM curator James Jensen, looking at the works displayed at the McClain Auctions space on Halekauwila Street. "We need to use our resources in the best way possible, and that means pruning the pieces that are barely seen and don't fit our collection."

When the organization was created in 1961, with a gallery in the News Building, the operating principle was adapted from that of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles - a rolling 40-year focus.

"Even MOCA has pretty much abandoned the idea of deaccessioning works as you pass out of a decade," said Jensen. "They were getting such fabulous gifts - that they wanted to keep for posterity, which is the whole idea of a museum - that they changed their focus to modern art from World War II to the present, which is the commonly accepted definition of 'contemporary.' "

TCM first negotiated with the Honolulu Academy of Arts, which eventually settled on 10 works, and a price was agreed on. Many of the pieces chosen had already appeared at the academy in the groundbreaking "Encounters With Paradise" exhibition several years ago.

"We also talked to Bishop Museum, but they decided they had other funding priorities," said Jensen. "With the 10 works placed at the academy, we have fulfilled our responsibility for keeping the most important works in a public collection. Now it's up to the public itself to keep these works in Hawaii."

The pieces to be auctioned are all two-dimensional, except for a pair of sugar tongs made out of King Kalakaua dimes. There are Madge Tennant sketches, English navigation engravings, social-realist oils, landscape watercolors, travel lithographs. Many are waaaaaaay older than 40 years. There's nothing on black velvet.

The price? It's up to the bidding frenzy, and there are no Jackie Kennedy items to goose that frenzy into the stratosphere. A catalog provided by McClain Auctions has appraised values for the items - most are in the hundreds of dollars, a few are less than a hundred, and a few are more than a thousand - but since there are no reserve prices, the winning bid takes it, even if it's less than the appraised value.

"Yes, there is the potential of some real art bargains," said Jensen. "There has been strong interest in the sale, and I know of at least one buyer who's flying in from New York."

The auction will also help establish values for the pieces, so those who already have a Madge Tennant drypoint hanging in the foyer will have a better handle on its worth.

"This is the largest collection we've handled since we sold off the Amfac collection seven years ago," said auction housemaster Marty McClain. "I've been in the business for 20 years, and there are works here I've never seen before."

The auction begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the works can be previewed prior to that time. There is no buyer's premium - "I like to keep things simple; what you bid is what you pay," said McClain - and all works are "as is, where is." Catalogs are free. Information: 538-7227.

And yes, price includes frame.

What: Contemporary Museum auction; catalogs are free
When: 10 a.m. Saturday
Where: McClain Auctions, 825 Halekauwila St.
Call: 538-7227