Art: 23 Years of Grace

In the crowded lecture hall of the San Francisco Museum of Art gathered a who's who of art, from black-tied sponsors to shaggy bohemians. The reception committee numbered 50 strong, ranged alphabetically from the Association of San Francisco Potters to the World Affairs Council. Sitting nervously on the stage, and at times close to tears, was the object of this outpouring of affection: durable, forthright Dr. Grace Louise McCann Morley, 57 (TIME, Feb. 28, 1955). Dr. Morley, the most respected woman museum director in the U.S., and the dominant spokesman for contemporary art on the West Coast, was retiring after 23...

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