There’s good news out of Richmond: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has received a bequest of nearly $70 million, mostly to support acquisitions of art.
That’s a nifty windfall, a boon to an already fine collection.
The bequest results from the dissolution of a trust created upon the deaths of Arthur Graham and Margaret Branch Glasgow in the 1950s; it occurred this summer, with the death of their heir, son-in-law, Ambrose Congreve, at 104, in London.
VMFA director Alex Nyerges said in a press release that the Glasgows’ involvement with the museum goes back to its founding. The bequest is the single largest cash gift to the museum; $60 million of it will be placed in an endowment fund for acquisitions, which Nyerges said would the the 7th largest such fund among American museums.
UPDATE: The VMFA calculates its annual acquisition budget now at $8 million. “That’s something of a game changer,” Nyerges said. No kidding.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of VMFA