The billionaire hedge-fund manager and philanthropist Ken Griffin has donated $40 million to the Museum of Modern Art, the New York institution announced yesterday.

The museum said the unrestricted gift from the founder and CEO of the Citadel Investment Group was one of the largest in its 86-year history.

MoMA indicated that it would use the funds to support its educational program and to continue to present exhibitions of modern and contemporary art for a global audience.

The unrestricted donation is one of the biggest in the museum’s history.
Photo: theredlist.com

“We are thrilled by Kenneth Griffin’s generosity, enthusiasm, and appreciation for the Museum of Modern Art,” director Glenn D. Lowry said in a statement. “His commitment to our mission and vision is truly extraordinary.”

As a gesture of gratitude the museum added that it would name its 1964 Philip Johnson-designed East Wing the Kenneth C. Griffin Building.

“It is an honor to support MoMA, one of the most vibrant, exciting, and high-impact cultural institutions in the world,” Griffin said. “It is my hope that visitors, artists, and students from around the world will experience all that MoMA has to offer for generations to come.”

The museum’s 1964 Philip Johnson designed building will be renamed after Kenneth C. Griffin.
Photo: nyc-arts.org

Griffin is a longtime art collector. According to the Daily Mail his collection includes Paul Cézanne’s $60 million 1894 still life Curtain Jug and Fruit Bowl, and Jasper Johns’s $80 million abstract painting False Start (1959).

The investor, who is worth a whopping $6 billion, has also made a $10 million donation to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago earlier this year, Page Six reports. He occupies seats on the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Whitney Museum.

The 46-year-old’s philanthropic work also extends to supporting several educational and medical research organizations. Griffin is also a major donor to the Grand Old Party. Christian Viveros-Fauné reports in 25 art collectors who are also big Republican donors that the self-described Reagan Republican pledged “several million dollars” to Marco Rubio’s super PAC, which can accept unlimited contributions.