Malcolm Rogers' Navy sails today, and already a couple of shots have been fired across his bow. The Museum of Fine Arts has a press preview this morning for "Things I Love: The Many Collections of William I. Koch," which opens tomorrow at the museum. The art and other possessions of the gazillionaire businessman on display include a Modigliani, Monets, a Renoir and a Picasso - but also his antique guns and two America's Cup yachts, now commanding the Huntington Avenue courtyard of the museum. A front page story by Geoff Edgers in today's Globe, "Furor Ahoy," quite clearly outlines the problems many in the museum world have with this exhibition and other MFA moves under Rogers, especially the recent exhibit of Ralph Lauren's cars.
Edgers' piece comes on the heels of Alex Beam's gleeful column a couple of weeks back outlining Koch's contentious personal life and litigous tendencies, including a dubious purchase of ancient Greek coins. Beam called the Koch exhibit the latest installment in Roger's "I Have No Shame" tour. Rogers tells Edgers that "minor ethical questions" will not deter him from his central mission of widening the museum's audience - sailboats and cars apparently being neccessary to get the proles in the door these days. But the article suggests that all this sucking up to the rich is neccessary these days for a museum to get its hands on the mogul's true treasures.
Also in play: the occasional seven-figure donation to that building fund to raise hundreds of millions for the museum's expansion (pictured). The fund drive has been in its "quiet period" for a couple of years now, with Rogers insisting that everything is going just swell but refusing to actually answer any questions about how much has been raised.
Fun, fun, fun. And the press breakfast is usually tasty too. I'll report back on the festivities this afternoon.
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