Von Dutch Auction - Von Dutch Going Once...

We had known for a long time that the Brucker Collection of Von Dutch art and memorabilia was going to be auctioned off at the Petersen Museum. We were anticipating the day like a little kid waiting Christmas.

Back in the '50s, the Brucker family started renting cars to the Hollywood studios, and eventually opened a museum to show off their collection of movie rides. In 1970, Jim Brucker and his son, Jimmy, opened MovieWorld: Cars of the Stars and Planes of Fame Museum in a touristy part of Southern California called Buena Park. They hired Ed "Big Daddy" Roth to work for them designing and building sets, and painting signs. Roth turned the Bruckers on to the work of artist Robert Williams, who had worked at the Roth Studios in the '60s, and was also a fine art painter working outside of the mainstream art world (to put it mildly). Soon, Von Dutch was working at MovieWorld too. The museum closed in 1979, but the Bruckers kept their collection of cars as well as the largest private collection of artwork by Von Dutch, Roth, Williams, Ed "Newt" Newton, Dave Mann, and other originators of what would eventually be known as "kustom kulture."

That's the stuff that was being auctioned at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in May. Most of the 500 lots (auction-speak for items for sale) were Von Dutch-oriented. In addition to original art, there were signs, tools, personal items, and assorted oddball stuff, all on display and all up for grabs. It was like the world's coolest museum had turned into the world's coolest store, and all you had to do to get something was place the highest bid. The first item on the block was a small Snap-On screwdriver once owned by Von Dutch. The estimate on the item was between $150 and $250, but bidding shot up to $800 in a heartbeat. I slid my debit card back into my wallet. My prize of the day was the priceless experience of looking at all the great stuff on display before it disappeared into the private stashes of collectors. I never met Von Dutch, but seeing his personal tools, his famous flute, his old pinstriper's box, made me feel like at least I somehow got close.

Even so, the question that wouldn't go away was: What would Von Dutch think about all of this? Would he be ticked off by the outrageous sums being paid for artwork for which he was paid next to nothing? Or would he have laughed out loud at fat cat collectors forking out crazy money for old hammers and screwdrivers and paint guns they'll never use? Or would he be happy to know that all these people are his fans, that his legend lives on, and that his talent is just as influential today as it was during his greatest days? Who knows?