ESTÉE LAUDER chairman Leonard Lauder has donated a collection of art to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art worth over $1 billion (£653 million). The extensive bequest includes 33 works by Picasso, 17 by Braque, 14 by Léger and 14 by Gris.
"Leonard's gift is truly transformational for the Metropolitan Museum," said Met director Thomas P Campbell. "Although the Met is unique in its ability to exhibit over 5,000 years of art history, we have long lacked this critical dimension in the story of modernism. Now, Cubism will be represented with some of its greatest masterpieces, demonstrating both its role as the ground-breaking movement of the 20th-Century and the foundation for an artistic dialogue that continues today. This is an extraordinary gift to our museum and our city."
Lauder - who is the son of cosmetics tycoon Estée Lauder and remains chairman emeritus of the company, having stepped down from his position as chief executive in 1999 - accumulated the 78-piece collection over 40 years. He has previously donated artworks to New York's Whitney Museum of American Art - for which he also stands as chairman emeritus.
The donation is thought to be among the best selections of Cubist art in the world. As a result of its new collection, the Met will launch The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art, which will act as a leading centre for scholarship on Cubism and modern art.
"This is a gift to the people who live and work in New York and those from around the world who come to visit our great arts institutions," said Lauder. "The arts are a cornerstone of the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of the city. I selected the Met as the way to share this collection because I feel that it's essential that Cubism - and the art that follows it, for that matter - be seen and studied within the collections of one of the greatest encyclopaedic museums in the world."
