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Premier Cubism collection shared in N.Y.

October 20, 2014 | In the Press

From TribLive (http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/6993038-74/collection-cubism-museum?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+alltribstories+(TribLIVE+News)#axzz3GggXeQg6)

Cosmetics heir and art collector Leonard A. Lauder said the collection of 81 Cubist masterpieces he has donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art will update the museum's collection and cement its reputation as “the greatest museum in the world.”

The works of art, valued at more than $1 billion and considered one of the foremost collections of Cubism in the world, will be unveiled in an exhibition that opens Monday and runs through Feb. 16.

The collection, which spans from 1906 to 1924, contains works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Leger and traces the development of Cubism.

“Cubism is the entrance to the 20th century and everything that followed in art,” Lauder told a press conference to announce the exhibition.

“Everyone says the Met is one of the greatest museums in the world. To me, it is the greatest museum in the world,” he added.

The 81-year-old heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune announced the gift to the museum in April last year. He said he decided to donate the collection because he felt it essential that Cubism, and the art that followed it, be seen and studied within the museum.

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