Dick Wolf, creator of the Law & Order and Chicago franchises, is giving more than 200 works of Renaissance and Baroque art to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The artists behind the works include Vincent Van Gogh, Bronzino, Botticelli and Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi, and the artwork dates back to the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
The works will reside in the museum’s European Paintings, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Drawings and Prints exhibitions.
The Met called the gift “transformative,” and “one of the landmark promised gifts to The Met of the last half century.” Wolf is also donating money.
“With its dazzling range of European paintings, sculpture, decorative arts and works on paper, the Dick Wolf Collection represents one of the most meaningful gifts to The Met in recent memory, truly transforming and adding new dimensions to the Museum’s holdings,” Max Hollein, the Met’s Marina Kellen French director and CEO, said. “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. We are profoundly grateful for his generosity, which will impact The Met’s millions of visitors for many years to come.”
Wolf will also endow two galleries in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts — the Quattrocento and Cinquecento Galleries, which will be named the Dick Wolf Galleries.
“From the time I was 8 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, who grew up in Manhattan, 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. 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.”
The Van Gogh artwork is the 1882 painting entitled Beach at Scheveningen in Calm Weather. That sold last year for $2.8 million.
Wolf’s shows include Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., FBI, FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. His unscripted shows include Cold Justice and Criminal Confessions.
