Top 200 Collector Mitchell Rales Gifts $116 M. to National Gallery of Art for Lending Program
Billionaire collector and National Gallery of Art trustee Mitchell Rales donated an additional $116 million to endow the NGA’s Across the Nation lending initiative in perpetuity, expanding a program launched last spring to send works from Washington, D.C. to regional US museums. The NGA initially committed—backed by Rales—to lend up to ten artworks to ten partner institutions in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah, and Washington, covering costs such as travel, installation, insurance, and marketing. Rales, cofounder of Danaher Corporation (1984) and founder of the private museum Glenstone (opened 2006 in Potomac, Maryland), said the gift aligns with the approach to the United States’ 250th anniversary. The first two-year loan cycle ends in 2027, with the next running from 2027 to 2029 and new partner museums to be announced; early loans included works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko, Nancy Graves, and a Rembrandt portrait.
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This story was covered in Auction Fever, Museum Power Plays