Date: Fri 21-May-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Indianapolis-Old-Masters

Full Text:

Indianapolis Art Museum Gets Old Masters Worth At Least $30 Million

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (AP) -- Works by Rembrandt, Rubens, El Greco and other Old

Master artists valued at $30 million to $50 million have been donated to the

Indianapolis Museum of Art by a local philanthropic group.

The 100 works in the donation by the Clowes Fund Inc. have been on loan and on

display at the museum since 1972.

"The museum has never received a more important or significant gift," museum

director Bret Waller said. "The collection has been and is the cornerstone of

our Old Master collection."

The gift was announced May 12.

Chief curator Ellen W. Lee said a Rembrandt self-portrait in the donation

might be worth more than $10 million.

"Certain of the paintings are comparable to the best works by these artists,"

added Ronda Kasl, the curator who oversee the museum's Old Master collection.

"The Rembrandt is one of the ten best early Rembrandts in the country."

Accompanying the works is a $500,000 cash grant to establish a research fund

for young scholars studying the collection.