Cosmetics head Lauder gives $131M to Whitney museum
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 | 9:51 AM ET
CBC News
Cosmetics executive Leonard A. Lauder is giving $131 million US to the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The gift will be the largest donation in the institution's history, with about $125 million going towards the New York museum's endowment, according to a Wednesday report in the New York Times.
The 75-year-old billionaire, who is the chair of the Estee Lauder Companies, said he hoped the donation would spur others to give generously to the Whitney.
He says his prime motivation was to help the Whitney retain its Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue at 75th Street.
"I believe the Whitney and the Breuer building are one," Lauder told the Times.
The Whitney announced last year it was planning to open a second location in the meatpacking district of Manhattan, causing some to believe that it would sell its current locale because it wouldn't be able to run two buildings.
The 77-year-old museum is one of the least endowed in the city. Its current endowment total of $195 million pales in comparison to the $850 million of the Museum of Modern Arts.
According to the Whitney's director, Adam Weinberg, the gift will allow the museum to venture into "adventurous programming."
Weinberg says it's too early to tell what the museum will do about its plans concerning the new location in the downtown core.
Lauder has been active at the Whitney. Six years ago, he a launched a campaign to purchase $200 million worth of American art by the likes of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstien, Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock.
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