[CPProt.net] USA: Debate kindles over art values

Sun Apr 10 07:34:51 CEST 2005

Debate kindles over art values 

By Tom Saul 

Armed with two letters and a memo from the city administrator, Davenport
Alderman Keith Meyer, 3rd Ward, has begun to insist that he be given
object-by-object values of the city's $12 million art collection.

But Mayor Charlie Brooke said he will do whatever it takes within the law to
keep the information from becoming public.

"We've talked about ways to keep it from becoming public, and if there is a
way I can do so within the law, I'll do it," Brooke said during an interview
with the QUAD-CITY TIMES. "There is no need for anyone to know that."

Craig Malin, the city administrator, has said repeatedly that the city has
not asked for and has not received individual valuations for the
approximately 2,030 pieces in the city collection that was appraised by
Christie's of New York. The appraisal was completed in December at a cost of
$32,200.

Both Malin and Figge Art Museum officials claim that release of individual
values could put the works at risk, exposing them to the possibility of
vandalism and theft. Malin also says museum visitors and employees could be
put in danger if the information is released.

"I will repeat the concern that the release and publication of individual
values has potentially negative, even dangerous, outcomes should the city
possess such information, which we do not," he wrote in an e-mail message
last week to the Times, which has also requested the valuations.

But Meyer, who has been actively seeking the information for several weeks,
has grown more insistent in his demands that he be provided with it. In an
exchange of e-mails with Malin last week, the alderman told the
administrator not to "play word games" and to get him the information.

"We forget who works for whom here, Craig," Meyer wrote. "If you have to go
to the (City) Council to get a denial of my request, then do so, but, until
then, I suspect you best comply with my request for the information."

Since early March, Malin has said he does not know whether Christie's
performed an item-by-item appraisal of the collection. He acknowledged that
the firm added unspecified numbers to come up with the total value of more
than $12 million, but said he had no knowledge of what those numbers are.

In a March 30 memo, he told Meyer, "I have been made aware that two letters
from Christie's to Michelle Robinson (museum curator and former Davenport
Museum of Art employee) indicate the appraisal information may be available
at the individual item level."

The letters, contained in a file in the city purchasing department and dated
Jan. 13, 2002, and Dec. 17, 2002, say that Christie's "will provide
insurance figures based on the fair market value of each picture."

In an interview with the Times, Paul Provost, the head of the estates and
appraisals department at Christie's, explained how the world-famous auction
firm determines the value of a collection - without speaking specifically
about the appraisal that was done for the City of Davenport.

In addition to looking at such factors as the condition, proof of
authenticity, past ownership and the quality of each object in a collection,
Christie's makes every effort to put a value on each item, he said.

"As a rule, we look at as many items as we can, although we can use photos
(of the items in a collection)," he said. "It is better to look at them in
person so you can assess the condition. Photos can be deceiving."

A page on the Web site of the Appraisers Association of America, a
professional group, offers a list of elements that should be included in a
properly prepared valuation of objects. Among them is a "firm statement of
value, not estimates, except when followed by detailed explanations of
qualifications."

City e-mails and memos dating from May 2004 that were provided at Meyer's
request and given to the Times detail discussions about a handful of
strategies aimed at blocking access to the value of individual items in the
city art collection.

The strategies included the drafting of a resolution that was to be
presented before the council that would have instructed Corporation Counsel
Mary Thee to go to court and seek an injunction to block examination and the
copying of appraisal information on individual items in the city collection.

The resolution never went before aldermen. Instead, in a Dec.15 e-mail,
Brooke said the city should simply keep the information secret and force
those who want it to go to court to obtain it.

"My priority all along has been that there is no good reason I can think of
that the individual values should be made public, and I can think of good
reasons not to publicize them," the mayor said.

Meyer said Friday that he was uncertain whether a majority of the council
would back his request to be given the individual valuations. Malin has said
he will provide the information only if instructed to do so by a majority of
aldermen.

"I might wait for the next council or file a request with the (Iowa)
Attorney General's office or the (state) ombudsman's office," Meyer said.

Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul at qctimes.com.

http://www.qctimes.com/