The Baltimore Museum of Art has announced a $3.5 million gift from an anonymous longtime supporter to endow the directorship of the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies.

Established through a 1949 bequest from sisters Claribel and Etta Cone, the Matisse collection at the BMA is the world's largest collection of the French artist's works in a public museum, with more than a thousand pieces by and related to the artist. Katy Rothkopf, senior curator and head of the European Painting and Sculpture Department, has been named the Anne and Ben Cone Memorial Director, which is named after the sisters' nephew and his wife, who have continued the family's legacy of support for the museum.

Slated to open in the fall of 2021, the center will host research initiatives, symposia and public programs, and exhibitions that contribute to knowledge of Matisse's practice, and will also work to digitize and make portions of the collection more widely available to the public.

"We are deeply grateful for this generous gift, which both honors the Cone family's dedication to the BMA and helps to secure the future of the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies. It has been a long-term strategic goal for the BMA to present the full breadth and depth of its Matisse holdings, first established by the vision and faith of the Cone sisters and nurtured by the Cone family and museum leadership over many decades," said museum director Christopher Bedford. "Katy [Rothkopf] brings to the position extensive knowledge of our Matisse collection, wide-ranging expertise in modern art, and many years of curatorial innovation."

(Photo credit: Succession H. Matisse-Artists Rights Society)