Art Bequest Includes Works by Calder and Picasso

How much: a collection of 340 art works worth an estimated $30-million. Among the donated works: sculptures by Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso.

Who gave it: Alvin S. and Terese Lane. Mr. Lane, who died in 2007, was a real-estate lawyer in New York. His wife died in March.

Who got it: The University of Wisconsin at Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art.

The donor’s connection to the beneficiary: Mr. Lane earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the university in 1940. Russell Panczenko, the museum’s director of 26 years, said Mr. Lane told him that quotas for the number of Jewish students at several East Coast institutions meant he could not gain admission, prompting him to turn to Wisconsin.

How the gift came about: Mr. Panczenko sought to build connections with alumni who were avid art collectors. Over a series of conversations about art, Mr. Panczenko tried to persuade Mr. Lane that the university would be the best fit for the couple’s collection. In 1995, the university organized a well-received exhibition of the Lanes’ art works, devoting thousands of feet of space for the event, which finally convinced the couple to leave the institution their collection upon their deaths.

Impact of the gift: The university is doubling the size of the museum at a cost of $43-million, which has already been raised. Mr. Panczenko says the collection will significantly enhance the museum’s holdings and its scholarship.