L.A. Museum Gets $500 Million Worth of Art by Monet, Picasso, Others

A Hollywood mogul donated $500 million worth of art to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Thursday, the largest gift ever made to the museum. Jerry Perenchio, the former chairman and chief executive of the Spanish-language Univision TV, gifted 47 pieces of impressionism and modernism to the museum, including works by Monet, Degas and Picasso.

The 83-year-old’s collection included paintings, drawings and sculptures, most of which date sometime between 1870 and the 1930s, according to Reuters. Though Perenchio is usually press-shy and makes charitable donations anonymously, he stepped into the limelight this week in order to encourage others to donate to the LACMA. The art museum will get a new $600 million home built by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor by 2023, though construction of the new building has not yet begun. The LACMA will receive the works upon Perenchio’s death and once the new building is complete.

Perenchio is best known for putting together the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. He also produced Blade Runner and Driving Miss Daisy.

Among the works to be added to the LACMA’s collection are a cubist painting by Pablo Picasso, a portrait by Edouard Manet and three paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet—including one of his famed water lily series.

[Reuters]