Personal Views: Regarding Private Collections in San Diego, the exhibit running through Jan. 7 at the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA), is the culmination of the museum’s 80th anniversary. Even so, the most memorable thing about the show just might be the catalogue that accompanies it. The 80-page work, which bears the same title as the exhibit, is a fascinating insight into 25 local private collections that include pieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keefe and other visual luminaries. And in the tradition of art as archive, the book is lushly illustrated and typeset, down to the overleafs that contain the collectors’ names.
What sets it apart is its acknowledgment of the relatively unknown. Artists such as Rufino Tamayo and Colin Campbell Cooper aren’t exactly as top of mind as those listed above, yet they’re covered as painstakingly as the big-shots. If this catalogue is any barometer, San Diego’s collectors look beyond trends and household names, embracing art’s universal appeal within works that speak to the soul.
“San Diego is a sophisticated community,” said SDMA director Derrick Cartwright, “and the quality of art collections in our region has increased significantly since the last time that SMDA mounted an exhibition of this sort (in 1983). This special exhibition represents a unique opportunity to discover some of the most remarkable art objects located right in our own backyard.”
And unlike the pieces in the 1983 show, the current works weren’t defined as the best in the region; as Cartwright explains in the catalogue, “There are simply too many quality collections in San Diego at this juncture.” He added, however, that the “Personal Views” contributors are “unified by the high degrees of self-consciousness that they each bring to their independent collecting enterprises. We have much to learn from these singular thinkers “” about both art and contemporary values.”
The book states that J. Todd Figi’s singular thinking led him into the world of collecting almost by default. Stamps, coins, ancient glass: The La Jolla man hoarded them all amid his penchant for preservation, eventually settling into an affinity for Latin American art. According to Cartwright, Figi, who maintains his collection with his wife Jake, has studied the art market intensely “” and he’s found that not everybody shares the contemporary values Cartwright cites.
“Unfortunately,” Cartwright quotes Figi in the book, “there are folks in the art world who will deliberately deceive you. There are a lot more bad artworks “” even worse, ‘fakes’ “” than outstanding art objects in the marketplace.”
Richard Ulevitch, on the other hand, got lucky. One day, Cartwright reports, Ulevitch bought a cool mask at an estate sale, not knowing much about the item except that he liked it. That purchase inspired Ulevitch to study African art “” and today, the Del Mar man touts an extensive collection of objects from other cultures. He and his wife Susan are co-contributors to the family collection.
“Although this chance purchase started my interest in African art,” he reflects in the catalogue, “my more serious involvement did not come until later, when I had the opportunity to visit Europe frequently. These opportunities allowed me to see some of the great European museum collections of African and other ethnographic art.”
The point is that both Figi and Ulevitch have acted on deeply personal convictions in creating their stockpiles (Figi’s collection contains a piece by Tamayo, a Zapotecan Indian far better known in his native Mexico; at least one Ulevitch item was created by an unknown artist). This exhibit echoes the integrity behind those convictions “” and the magnificent catalogue sanctions the show accordingly.
The San Diego Museum of Art is located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park; the phone number is 619-232-7931. The venue is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. except Thursdays, when it closes at 9:00. Admission prices range from $4 to $10, with children 5 and under admitted for free. Further information is available at www.sdmart.org.