MCCLAIN AUCTIONS Marty McClain served as auctioneer for the Contemporary Museum's "deaccession" sale on Saturday. Madge Tennent's "Woman with Ukulele," behind him, sold for $55,000.

1935 painting draws
$55,000 top bid
at museum auction

An auction of works from the Contemporary Museum drew a couple hundred art lovers to McClain Auctions on Saturday to bid on more than 218 pieces, earning $162,237.50 for the museum.

As expected, the biggest sale was for Madge Tennent's 1935 framed oil on linen, "Woman with Ukulele," won for $55,000 by a private collector. Other untitled Tennent studies in ink on colored paper sold for $500 to $800 each.

TCM's associate director and chief curator, James Jensen, said he was pleased with the results, which topped those of a similar auction held by the museum in 1996. That auction earned $145,000, which was subsequently used to acquire more contemporary works for the museum's collection.

There were few surprises during the auction, which also saw works by Hawaii's pioneering Japanese-American artists drawing high prices. Among them were Bumpei Akaji's bronze relief "Crowds," which drew a top bid of $10,800, and Satoru Abe's copper and bronze sculpture "Seed," earning $10,500.

An untitled oil on canvas of a valley scene by David Howard Hitchcock, in a koa frame, was won for $12,000.

John Young's 1967 oil on canvas "Dancing Girl" drew a winning bid of $6,100, while a smaller pair of horses in watercolor and ink on rice paper earned $2,800.

The Jean Charlot fresco fragment titled "The Missionary (Mrs. Elisha Loomis)" sold for $4,500.

One bidder brought lightheartedness to the proceedings. In cases when no one was prepared to make an opening bid, Al Franzel started the round with an offer of $5 or $10. He eventually went home with nine works ranging from $5 to $275.

Although he had planned to buy higher-priced works, those he brought home on a whim will likely end up for resale on his Web site, www.hawaiianantiques.com.