78 treasures will give Met a cornerstone in cubism
Leonard Lauder’s pledge is ‘transformational’
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is going cubist in a big way — a billion-dollar way — thanks to cosmetics titan Leonard Lauder.
Lauder, emeritus chairman of Estée Lauder, a major art collector and philanthropist, pledged the New York museum his collection of 78 works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Léger, believed to be one of the foremost collections of cubism in the world.
The Met announced the donation, described as a billion-dollar gift by
The New York Times, after the museum board approved it Tuesday.
Met director Thomas Campbell called the gift “truly transformational” for the museum, which is encyclopedic but not as rich in cubist artworks as, say, the Museum of Modern Art.
“Now, cubism will be represented with some of its greatest masterpieces, demonstrating both its role as the groundbreaking movement of the 20th century and the foundation for an artistic dialogue that continues today,” Campbell said in a statement.
Lauder, 80, explained why he picked the Met.
“I feel 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 encyclopedic museums in the world,” he said in a statement.
The collection will go on display at an exhibit to open in fall 2014, the museum said. Acquired over 37 years, it consists of 33 works by Picasso, 17 by Braque, 14 by Gris and 14 by Léger, all of them artists of cubism.