Boston College has announced a gift of artworks valued at more than $20 million to its McMullen Museum of Art from alumnus, trustee associate, and Fidelity Management and Research Company vice chair Peter Lynch (’65).

The gift comprises twenty-seven paintings and three drawings from the private collection of Lynch and his late wife, Carolyn, who died in 2015. They include works by Pablo Picasso, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, Albert Bierstadt, Martin Johnson Heade, and Jack Butler Yeats. An additional $5 million cash gift will support the ongoing curation and exhibition of what will be called the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch Collection.

Longtime supporters of Boston College, the Lynches gave more than $10 million in 1999 to name the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and $20 million beginning in 2010 to establish the Lynch Leadership Academy, which trains and provides support for principals and aspiring principals from across Massachusetts.

“My hope is that this artwork, all of which my wife, Carolyn, and I collected during our fifty years together, will help students to develop a deeper understanding of art and its importance as a form of expression,” said Lynch. “All students definitely can learn from this collection, which includes a diversity of styles of painting, many of which depict the natural beauty of our country from its most celebrated painters. I also wanted to enhance the McMullen Museum’s permanent collection through our donation and encourage others to follow.”

(Photo credit: Lee Pellegrini)