NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) -- Banker David Rockefeller, whose mother was a founder of the Museum of Modern Art, has pledged $100 million toward the museum's endowment.
The Monday cash gift is the largest in MoMA's history.
MoMA Director Glenn Lowry said the gift will enable the museum to bolster its educational programs and also help finance future exhibitions.
The museum just completed an $858 million dollar physical expansion program, to which Rockefeller gave $77 million, thereby more han doubling the size of its midtown New York City building.
Rockefeller is chairman emeritus of the museum that was founded more than 70 years ago by his mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr.), and two friends. It currently has an endowment of $475 million, but $138 million of the money it cost for building expansion remains to be raised.
Lowry said Rockefeller has now given either cash or pledges totaling $200 million to the museum, not including many valuable paintings and drawings by Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.
