Things I Love

Founder of The Oxbow Group, one of the top 500 privately held companies in America, William I. Koch is an international businessman, chemical engineer trained at MIT, world-class sailor, and devoted father. A benefactor of the Museum, Koch is also a passionate collector, described by The New York Times as "one of the most prodigious collectors of wine, art, and antiques in the United States."

“Things I Love” features choice objects from Koch’s many collections—from ancient Roman to contemporary American—throughout the Museum. The exhibition explores the collector’s interest in sailing and the sea (Koch captured the America’s Cup in 1992) with nautical paintings by Lane, Boudin, Dufy, and Homer; and silver trophies. Koch’s fascination with the American West is represented by major paintings and sculpture by Remington and Russell, Native American works, and rare firearms including the gun that killed Jesse James and General George Armstrong Custer’s hunting rifle.

Another highlight of the collection is a group of important nineteenth-century paintings and sculpture by Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, and Americans Chase and Bunker. Great works of twentieth-century art by Matisse, Picasso, Dalí, Modigliani, Maillol, and Arp round out the picture of Koch’s diverse collecting interests.