LACMA scores an art donation worth a half-billion dollars

"Au Café Concert: La Chanson du Chien," (1875), by Edgar Degas. This work is among the many that Jerry Perenchio will bequeath to the LA County Museum of Art.

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LACMA

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"Les Liaison dangereuses," (1936), by René Magritte. This is among the many works of art that Jerry Perenchio will donate to the LA County Museum of Art.

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LACMA

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"Nymphéas," (1905) by Claude Monet. Art collector Jerry Perenchio will donate this along with the rest of his collection, worth $500 million, to the LA County Museum of Art.

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LACMA

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Actress Anjelica Huston (L) and Jerry Perenchio attend the 2014 LACMA Art + Film Gala honoring Barbara Kruger and Quentin Tarantino presented by Gucci at LACMA on November 1, 2014.

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Rich Polk/Getty Images for LACMA

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To put that in context, the building that LACMA needs to complete to get its hands on those works will cost $600 million.

In a major coup for the LA County Museum of Art, private art collector Jerry Perenchio announced he will donate his vast collection to the institution.

How vast? It's valued to be worth a half-billion dollars.

To put that in context, the building that LACMA needs to complete to get its hands on those works will cost $600 million.

Suzanne Muchnic, former art critic for the LA Times, explains why Perenchio chose to leave his prized works with LACMA and what some of the gems are.