Billion dollar cubism collection donated to NY museum

One of the finest cubist collections in the world, painstakingly pieced together by a U.S. billionaire and pledged to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, opens to the public on October 20. Featuring 81 works of art by four artists, the museum says it will be the most important exhibition dedicated to the pioneers of the early 20th century avant-garde art movement in more than 30 years. It was acquired meticulously over nearly 40 years by billionaire philanthropist Leonard Lauder, 81, son of cosmetics entrepreneur Estee Lauder, and is believed to be worth more than $1 billion. It will be shown in full in public for the first time at the Met in an exhibition that runs until February 16.

Every painting has a clue in it, there is something to be learned about the history of the moment.

Leonard Lauder

The collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings showcases transformative work by Spanish artists Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, and France’s Georges Braque and Fernand Leger. Among the pieces are Picassos landmark “Demoiselles d’Avignon,” “The Oil Mill,” and a rare cast of his “Head of a Woman” sculpture. The exhibition traces the invention and development of cubism and focuses in particular on 1909-14 when Picasso and Braque, who became inseparable, revolutionized the art world. The Met, which welcomes six million visitors a year, has also established a new research center for modern art that will specialize in cubism, funded by Lauder and other donors.

Arts