NEW ZEALAND’S AUCKLAND ART GALLERY RECEIVES MAJOR COLLECTION

The Auckland Art Gallery in New Zealand has announced that it has received a donation of works including paintings by Cézanne, Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin, and Mondrian that it said was the largest gift ever made to an art museum in the Australasian region. The New York Times_ reports that the museum received the gift from the New York collectors and philanthropists Julian H. Robertson Jr. and Josie Robertson; it consists of twelve paintings and three works on paper, including portraits by Picasso from 1938 and 1951, a landscape by Gauguin from 1884, and an abstract geometric painting by Mondrian from around 1920. The National Business Review of New Zealand placed the total value of the collection at $120 million to $150 million. The Robertsons told the National Business Review that they wanted to give the museum an international-quality exhibition.