VMFA receives 26 pieces from Mellon estate

Degas, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Gauguin, Seurat, van Dongen are some of the big hitters.

May 23, 2014; 9:01 AM • by Richard Hayes

Just when you think the VMFA can’t possibly get any better they announce that they’ll be receiving these paintings. According to the RTD, they museum hopes to have the majority of works up by July but some could be revealed as soon as a couple weeks. That same article has a partial list of the works received.

Six masterworks, unseen for decades, by such artists as Vincent van Gogh (his work seen above) and Edgar Degas, are among 26 works given to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from the life estate of Paul Mellon.

The museum announced the gift Thursday, with museum director Alex Nyerges calling it “very significant” and “a testimony to the unbelievable generosity of the Mellons.”

Mellon bequeathed the pieces to the museum in 1999 but placed them in the life estate of his widow, Rachel Lambert Mellon. She died March 17 at her estate in Upperville. The artworks now have been transferred to the museum, where some are already receiving conservation work.

Image: RTD