GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - Two Pennsylvania museums have begun dividing more than 500 pieces of art bequeathed to them by the late Pittsburgh Tribune-Review publisher Richard Mellon Scaife.
Officials with the Brandywine River Museum of Art near Philadelphia met Wednesday in Greensburg with their colleagues at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Scaife, the billionaire banking heir who died July 4, willed the paintings to the museums. They divided more than 140 of the most sought-after works of art Wednesday, and will divvy up the rest in the coming days.
Scaife’s collection consisted mostly of 19th and 20th century paintings by American artists John La Farge, John Kensett, George Inness and others.
Scaife also gave the Westmoreland museum $5 million and bequeathed his 900-acre estate, “Penguin Court,” to Brandywine’s parent organization, along with $15 million to maintain the property.
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