The University of California, Irvine has announced a gift of artworks from the Irvine Museum valued at $17 million.

The largest gift of art in UC Irvine's fifty-year-history comprises the entire collection of California Impressionist paintings amassed by Joan Irvine Smith — founder of the Irvine Company and great-granddaughter of the founder of the James Irvine Foundation — including works by Guy Rose, William Wendt, Granville Redmond, and Edgar Payne. The twelve hundred works currently are housed in the Irvine Museum, which was founded in 1992 by Irvine Smith, her son James Irvine Swinden, and her mother, Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke. Until the university builds a new museum on campus to house the collection permanently, the works will continue to be exhibited at the museum, which is free and open to the public.

"We are privileged to accept this gift, which not only reaffirms a long and supportive relationship between UCI and the Irvine family, but also lays a foundation for advancing UCI as a destination for people who want to understand the world and human experience through California art," said chancellor Howard Gillman. Irvine Smith and her mother spearheaded the campaign that led to the 1960 sale of a thousand acres of Irvine Company land — what had been part of the Irvine Ranch — for $1 to establish the university.

"We are so pleased to contribute to the original vision for the campus outlined by its architect, William Pereira, which included an art museum," said the museum's president, Irvine Swinden, in a statement. "Our collection...will provide the basis for a world-class museum that others who appreciate this important genre can support."

"The focus wasn't just about starting a museum — it was to talk about the environment issues we face today, which are just as...important," Irvine Swinden told the Los Angeles Times. "My mother has always been involved in these issues, and it seemed appropriate that the collection end up on the ranch."