LACMA To Receive Largest Donation Of Art In Museum's History

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced Thursday that it has been promised at least 47 paintings valued at $500 million. The gift marked the largest donation of art in the museum's history.

The donation, from former Univision Communications Chairman and CEO Jerry Perenchio, will include masterpieces by Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, museum officials said.

"My family and I are proud and honored to give something back to a wonderful city," Perenchio said, adding that he hopes his gift to LACMA will inspire other collectors to do the same and encourage all types of donations, large and small.

The works of art are expected to be given after Perenchio's death.

"These are the kind of artworks a museum, like u,s can never buy. I mean, this is a lifetime of accumulated collecting of masterpieces," said LACMA director Michael Govan.

The announcement comes a day after the county Board of Supervisors approved a tentative plan for a $600 million redesign of the museum's campus.

The plan includes a tear down and replacement of most of its buildings.

The centerpiece of the revamp would be a huge amoeba-shaped building that would feature gallery space in the form of a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard.

Construction is expected to begin in 2019 and to be completed in 2023. The museum plans to remain open throughout the project.

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