NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Famed “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf signed a “transformative gift agreement” that confirms he will donate more than 200 artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collections of Renaissance and Baroque art, the Met announced on Wednesday, which was also Wolf’s 77th birthday.
Wolf, a California-based collector, has spent many years obtaining the paintings, sculptures and drawings he intends to donate, the result being a large collection that reflects his passion for 15th to 18th century art (though the collection holds select more-modern works).
“From the time I was eight years old, I would stop at The Met on my way home from school, two to three times a month, and wander the galleries,” Wolf said. “It was a simpler time, there was no admission, you could walk in off the street. I’m sure most collectors would agree that seeing your art displayed in the world’s greatest museum is an honor.”
According to the museum, the donation will send artworks to three departments: European Paintings; European Sculpture and Decorative Arts; and Drawings and Prints. The breadth of the donation makes it “one of the landmark promised gifts to The Met of the last half century.”
“From works by the best-known and most beloved artists of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, to those who are lesser known but of deep historical importance, the collection reflects Dick Wolf’s excellent connoisseurship and enduring dedication to the diverse artistic media of the periods. Furthermore, the substantial financial contribution will provide critical support for The Met’s collection displays and scholarly pursuits,” Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, said.
The donation will also endow the Quattrocento and Cinquecento Galleries, galleries 500 and 503, within the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. They are to be named the Dick Wolf galleries.
One of the gifts included in the donation, Orazio Gentileschi’s “Madonna and Child” (ca. 1620), is a recent purchase that sold for $4.4 million in June 2022.
The museum said that this painting is already on view in the recently reopened galleries for European Paintings from 1300 to 1800.
There are plans to present an installation of selected works from the gift, with an emphasis on a specific group of drawings, in coming years.
“Dick Wolf is the ideal collector and philanthropist. He has assembled – with intelligence and a great eye – a superb collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, furniture, and decorative arts that speaks eloquently of the times and places in which they were made,” art adviser for the Dick Wolf Collection Don Bacigalupi said. “And his exemplary commitment to sharing his collection publicly speaks to his generosity and understanding of the power of art to inspire, educate, and enlighten.”
Wolf is best known for creating two of the longest-running scripted television series of all time, “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU,” which are produced by his own company, Wolf Entertainment. But now, the two-time Emmy award winner is ready to showcase pieces from his other passion to the public.
“This is my holiday gift to the Museum, the people of New York, and the city where I first encountered the power and beauty of great art,” Wolf said.