A total number of 109 works of art, including paintings by Chardin, Guardi, Boudin, Manet, Fantin-Latour, Degas, Hammershoi, Cézanne, Vuillard, Bonnard, Picasso, Léger, Matisse, Mondrian, Klee, Morandi, Fautrier, Balthus, Giacometti or Schwitters have been donated to French museums, French official sources said on June 30th 2000. Some 71 works are destined to the Musée Granet of Aix-en-Provence, now under reconstruction while 27 will be transferred to the Orsay museum in Paris. This donation was one of the most generous made over a century, officials added.
The donor, who wished to remain anonymous, is reportedly living in Paris and started to collect works of art some twenty years ago. A rare Cézanne self-portrait, exhibited during the 1995 retrospective held at the Grand Palais in Paris and a self-portrait of Pierre Bonnard are among the pieces he donated. This collector had a marked preference for French artists or for those who worked in France such as Bram van de Velde. An exhibition regarding this donation will be held at the Orsay museum next fall.
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