UW-Madison Alumnus Alvin Lane and his wife have bestowed their $30 million collection of 20th century sculpture to the university's Chazen Museum of Art, according to museum officials.
The core of the collection is approximately 75 pieces of sculpture and the majority of the other works are drawings by the sculptors.
The collection features works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, David Smith and Christo.
Russell Panczenko, Chazen museum director, said the collection offers many study resources for students.
""We become a major study center for modernism. This is a resource you couldn't get without going to New York or Washington,"" Panczenko said. ""Our collection is a very special collection and I don't think anyone anywhere in the region has this kind of material in the same depth.""
Lane grew up in New Jersey and earned his undergraduate degree from UW Madison in 1940. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he became an attorney at a prominent New York City law firm.
Lane died at age 89 in 2007 and his wife died in 2010 at age 88.
Lane donated the collection to Madison, because he wanted to give back to his alma mater.
""He went to undergraduate school at University of Wisconsin and he really loved his time there. He wanted to contribute something to the school,"" Lane's daughter, Judith Lane, said.
Lane credited the university for much of his success during a time when it was hard to get into college as a Jew.
At the time Lane applied for college, many schools on the East Coast had quotas for people who were Jewish.
""Wisconsin never had quotas and so he was able to go to school here,"" Panczenko said. ""That allowed him to go onto Harvard and get a law degree. [Lane] said had it not been for Wisconsin, he would never have been in his position in life.
