$1-Billion Lauder Art Gift to Go on Show at Met Museum

The $1-billion collection of Cubist art that philanthropist and cosmetics mogul Leonard Lauder donated last year to the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be unveiled to the public Monday, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal write. The exhibition of works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and other early-20th-century masters will run through Feb. 16.

Since announcing the donation in April 2013, Mr. Lauder has added three pieces to the original gift of 78 paintings, sculptures, and drawings. Thomas Campbell, the Met’s executive director, said the collection fills “an enormous gap” in the museum’s holdings. The exhibition comes as the Met establishes a research center for modern art, supported by a donor-funded $22-million endowment, and prepares to expand into the building now occupied by the Whitney Museum of American Art.