Richard Koch, MoMA’s Urbane Former Deputy Director, Dies UPDATED

[More on Koch, including his photo, here.}

Talking to me when I'm in full investigative-reporter mode is a bit like going to the dentist---lots of abrasive drilling. Not much fun for the person sitting in the interviewee's chair.

That's why I was so appreciative and admiring of Richard Koch, former deputy director of the Museum of Modern Art, who died last month. He was forever gracious, patient and forthcoming in guiding me through the very complex arrangements surrounding MoMA's 1984 expansion designed by Cesar Pelli, which he helped supervise and about which I wrote for both Art in America and ARTnews magazines.

Koch, an attorney, was a prime mover in drafting the legislation that established the Trust for Cultural Resources, a public benefit corporation that was initially defined in such a way that it could issue bonds to finance only this particular MoMA expansion. But its scope was subsequently expanded to cover a wide variety of major capital projects by New York cultural institutions. It has had a far-reaching impact on the city's cultural life.

Richard was a class act whose cheerful openness and transparency could still serve as a model for museum administration today

Unfortunately, MoMA was unable to supply me with a photo of Koch. If any reader is able to e-mail me a usable image, please let me know by clicking "Contact me" in CultureGrrl's middle column. I'll add it to the top of this post, if I do receive one.

UPDATE: A representative from MoMA's press office took exception to my saying that the museum couldn't supply me with a photo. She had, in fact, informed me that the museum could send me one image, but added that I would have to contact the photographer for permission before I could use it. She said she only had the photographer's "last known mailing address." This heroic detective work was a bit too cumbersome for a quick blog post, even though I'd still like to enhance this with Koch's distinguished mien. Can anyone facilitate that? (Shoutout to James Snyder, Donald Elliott, Richard Oldenburg, Cesar Pelli, Joanne Koch...)