Two San Diego art museums receive $40 million art collection

March 25, 2012

Two museums in, California have been bequested an art collection worth more than 40 million. The art collection was donated by Dr. Vance E. Kondon and Elisabeth Giesberger to both the and the.

Kondon, a former board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art, died in 1997 and Giesberger died in 2011. Kondon was a notable art collector in San Diego, and collected for over 30 years. Roxana Velásquez, SDMA executive director, described their bequeathed collection's "rarity" and said the pieces would add "depth" to the two existing museum collections.

The collection will be separated between the two museums due to the art movements represented within it. The Museum of Contemporary Art will receive 30 works by artists such as, , and. The Museum of Art was bequeathed 48 paintings, drawings and prints. This collection includes artworks by, , and.