Critic Criticized

Art museums, like all arts organizations, are accustomed to receiving their fair share of reviews--good and bad. But I must confess I was surprised, and in fact rather baffled, to read Leah Ollman’s review (July 23) “Koch Collection Out Of Place.” Her tone of vitriolic attack made impossible any serious criticism, and it seemed to me that she was so intent on proving her preconceived notion of the museum’s motive in showing Mr. Koch’s collection that she failed to look at the art. I’d like to offer just a bit of background.

On several occasions over the past 18 months, I had the opportunity to review Mr. Koch’s collection and knew it to be of historical importance and of a level of quality rarely seen in San Diego. While no one would claim that every piece in this exhibition is a masterpiece, the overall high caliber of the Koch collection makes it unquestionably worthy of a museum setting.

This show emerged out of William Koch’s generous offer to share his collection with San Diego--his way of thanking the community for supporting his America’s Cup effort. The works will be on view in La Jolla for only one month, after which they will go on a long-planned museum exhibition in the Midwest. Contrary to Mrs. Ollman’s strident suggestion, none of these works are destined to be donated to our museum, nor was there any other operative quid pro quo .

As an art historian, I have had a longstanding interest in juxtaposing contemporary art with art from other periods, most recently in a series of critically acclaimed collection exchanges with the Timken Art Museum. I believe that one’s understanding and appreciation of both contemporary and historical art can be enriched and enlivened by such juxtapositions.

Thus, it was my great pleasure to be offered the chance to exhibit one of the truly great Modigliani Odalisques, a seminal early painting by Picasso, and an unusual and exquisite Corot portrait, among other pieces, in the galleries adjacent to the work of two “new faces” in contemporary art--Noburu Tsubaki and Julie Bozzi.

The group of marine paintings Mrs. Ollman so flippantly dismisses includes fine American examples of this genre and provides viewers an interesting companion experience to seeing “The Great Age of Sail” paintings in Balboa Park.

My hope is that Mrs. Ollman’s discordant and hostile ruminations about the Museum of Contemporary Art in general and the current exhibitions in particular will not dissuade San Diegans from coming to the museum and judging for themselves. I do not think they will be disappointed in what they see.

HUGH M. DAVIES, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego