The Dallas Museum of Art has been given a $17 million gift to expand its collection of European art before 1700, with a focus on the renaissance and baroque periods.
The museum Wednesday announced the gift from trustee and past chairman Marguerite Steed Hoffman that creates a $13.6 million restricted acquisitions endowment and a $3.4 million operating endowment. The gift more than doubles the museum's acquisition endowment, bringing its total funds in support of acquisitions to $50 million.
The museum says that while its collection is strong in late 19th and early 20th century works, its old master collection is "comparatively modest."
Hoffman and her late husband, Robert, were one of three Dallas families who in 2005 left their private collections of modern and contemporary art to the museum.
