Collections

At Orange County museums, officials say they use standard techniques and equipment to help guard against earthquake damage--although, of course, none are guaranteed against the force of a major upheaval. Brian Gray, director of design and facilities at Newport Harbor Art Museum in Newport Beach, explained that the storage area for paintings and large sculptures is padded, and "everything is strapped down or bungee-corded."

Europe's couture designers know that many women who can afford $4,000 to $20,000 for a custom-made, one-of-a-kind gown, cannot afford the time for all those trips to Paris or Rome for fittings. Ever sensitive to the needs of their public, they have tried to solve the problem. If it's inconvenient for women to fly to the collections, they have reasoned, let's fly the collections to them. Valentino devotees in Manhattan, for instance, have already grown accustomed to such exalted curbside service.

He is a poet, printer, philosopher, philanthropist, author, lecturer, tennis player, motorcyclist, race car driver and runs a used car lot and a hock shop on his half-acre here. H. Radway Matz II, the sage of Dunsmuir, is 81 and says he's just getting his first wind. "I've been married and divorced seven times and put all seven wives in my will. None of them could keep up with me," boasts the spindly 6-foot, 180-pound, silver-goateed octogenarian. Matz is a pack rat.

A 2,000-piece collection of works by American Abstract Expressionist painter Clyfford Still that has been in storage since his death in 1980 has finally found a home in Denver. The artist's will stipulates that the collection be given to an American city but requires the recipient to create and maintain a museum devoted exclusively to his art. His widow, Patricia A. Still, who has had discussions with many suitors, confirmed Monday that she had reached an agreement with Denver.

One evening in 1986, Jim Jacobs was talking about his collection of boxing films, the most extensive in the world. "Thomas Edison invented the motion picture camera in 1894," he said. "From 1894 to the present, there is only one great fighter missing from my collection--Harry Greb." Jacobs, who died at 58 in 1988, never gave up hope that one day film of Greb, a brawling middleweight and light-heavyweight champion, would turn up. It has.

The Newport Beach library will get to expand its American history collection after the City Council voted to spend $5,950 on the project. The council had voted in favor of expanding the library's 8,100-piece collection at its June 28 meeting. But the decision was appealed by the city's Cultural Arts Committee. Some members of the cultural arts committee said they believed the city lacked enough information about the library's current collection when it made the decision.

Ancient Roman coins can be bought for as little as $10, or silver Spanish pieces of eight for $50. The money is on display at the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Expo which opens today ) at the Long Beach Convention Center and runs through Sunday. Also on exhibit will be witch's pieces, 17th century coins manufactured in Massachusetts and later bent in the belief they kept witches away, and a 42-ounce gold nugget from Alaska.

Michelangelo had his "David." Leonardo had his "Mona Lisa." And Howard Juhl has his apartment buildings. Granted, the buildings--with a Polynesian god statue in the front yard and a king-size brass bed on the garage roof--might not make the Louvre, but neighbors believe Juhl's masterpieces are worthy of a little aesthetic criticism.

It was oddly stubby in form, tired yellow in color and a little rebellious in demeanor before a crew of workers could get it settled down. First the truck that brought it ripped up some miniature railroad track and then the crane boom it was suspended from knocked a limb from a eucalyptus tree.

The last few years have been good for tango in the United States, judging from the number of quality recordings released. Here are five albums that would make a perfect start to a comprehensive tango collection: * "The Story of Tango," various artists, Hemisphere/Metro Blue. This superb compilation of classic and contemporary tunes makes a great entry point to the world of tango.