Passion for California design refuses to die. On October 14, when die-hard collectors packed a large, poorly-lit showroom in West Hollywood for L.A. Modern Auctions' latest sale, Judy Chicago's painted Corvair hood got the event off to a roaring start. Forty years before Richard Prince, whose "American Prayer"--a 1969 Dodge Charger mounted on a plywood base--greets visitors to his current show at the Guggenheim, the pioneering feminist was making art out of quintessentially American cars. It sold to Moderna Museet of Stockholm for $288,000, a high watermark for her work.

Judy Chicago's Painted Corvair hood

Richard Diebenkorn's color etching "High Green, Version 1" from 1992 fetched $156,000, the second highest price paid for one of this edition of 65. Another record price was turned in for Otto Natzler's mobile. At $45,000, this was higher than any other work Natzler did without his wife.

Richard Diebenkorn's color etching "High Green, Version 1"

Otto Natzler's mobile

Thanks to the continuing embrace by predominantly Los Angeles-based buyers, the sale topped $2 million, a new high for the auction house. "The fine art sold fantastically," said Peter Loughrey, the auction house's director. An Andy Warhol screen-print, "Jane Fonda" #37 in an original edition of 1000, fetched $45,000.

Andy Warhol's screen-print, "Jane Fonda"

Another stunner was the $144,000 paid for a dining table and eight chairs built by the 91-year-old Altadena designer, Sam Maloof. It was purchased by La Jolla resident Bonnie Kane from her brother--their parents commissioned the table from the artist in 1963. "I have so many memories of this table," she said. "Not only did my brothers and sisters and I grow up around it, but Sam was a long-time friend of our family."

Table by Sam Maloof

Greta Magnusson Grossman continued her meteoric rise. A tripod floor lamp by the designer fetched $9600, a new record. "Almost higher than New York retail prices," quipped Loughery. Explaining her new-found popularity, he pointed to the stellar sums paid for French and Italian lighting of this period and explained, "Grossman's lamps are every bit as good." The lamp's buyer was the Los Angeles County Museum (read about NY gallerist Michael Govan's plan to resuscitate the museum) which paid another record for a rare coffee table designed by Alvin Lustig: $13,200. This was nearly three times the pre-auction estimate. (See a slideshow of Lustig's striking book cover designs.)

One reason for the large number of lots, well over 500, was Loughrey's desire to showcase newer artists (the big names didn't necessarily demand big prices: A classic desk from Richard Neutra reached only $4,800 while a custom sideboard from Schindler didn't sell). A desk from the Seattle-based designer, Roy McMakin, used in his showroom on Beverly Boulevard in the 1980's, came in within the estimate at $14,400. Raymond Pelton's 70s hippie-meets-
modern design sensibility was much in evidence in his "Manzanita Burl, Draw Tube Box." But the foot-high gnarly knob of wood that, when pulled apart, reveals a polished wood compartment, fetched only $1200.

In the current frenzy, however, "undiscovered" does not stay that way for long. "I was the first with Paul Laszlo and Billy Haines, who designed for Jack Warner and the Annenbergs," confessed Loughrey. "Now I can't get my hands on their work."

--David Hay

All photos courtesy of Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)