Whitney gets a $131-million birthday gift
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Cosmetics executive Leonard A. Lauder celebrated his 75th birthday Wednesday by giving $131 million to the Whitney Museum of American Art, the largest cash donation in the New York institution’s history. Lauder is the chairman of the 77-year-old museum and of the Estee Lauder Cos.
The museum said that $125 million of Lauder’s gift would go to its endowment, with the remainder to be used for operating expenses.
Lauder made the donation through the American Contemporary Art Foundation, which previously gave the Whitney artworks by Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol.
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