National Gallery to annex estate

Robert Meyerhoff, a Baltimore philanthropist who has one of the world’s outstanding collections of post-World War II paintings, has received approval to turn his Maryland estate into a museum that will be part of the National Gallery of Art.

The Phoenix, Md., estate, north of Baltimore and 65 miles from the National Gallery in Washington, would be the first permanent location off the national Mall for works in the museum’s collection. It will open to the public upon the death of Meyerhoff, who is 84.

In 1987 Meyerhoff and his wife, Jane, pledged to give their collection of 265 works to the gallery, including pieces by Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Ellsworth Kelly. From the beginning, the agreement called for the collection to be divided between the museum and the Meyerhoff home. Jane Meyerhoff died in 2004.

The Baltimore County Council voted Monday to allow the home to be used as a gallery. Because of concerns about traffic, the new law limits the number of visitors at any one time to 125 and restricts the number of parking spaces and the hours the site can be open to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week.