Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has donated €15 million ($16 million) to the Musée du Louvre in Paris to help fund the museum’s acquisition of a painting by the 18th-century French artist Jean Siméon Chardin, the Observer reports.

The painting, Basket of Wild Strawberries, was sold at auction in March for €24.4 million ($26 million) to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. But its export was halted after the Louvre, which is controlled by the French government, classified the work as a national treasure, initiating the effort to raise funds for the acquisition. According to the Observer, the Louvre has 30 months to raise the funding for the acquisition.

The painting will be on display at the Louvre through February 2024 as part of a campaign to raise an estimated €1.3 million ($1.4 million) from public donations. In addition to the gift from Arnault, a company—whose name was not disclosed—has donated €1 million ($1.07 million), and the museum’s patron group, Société des Amis du Louvre, will provide €500,000 ($535,000). Corporate donations and funds from the museum’s acquisition budget will cover the rest of the purchase price.

“Chardin is the French Vermeer, and the Basket of Wild Strawberries is probably the last work of this quality still in private hands,” said Jean-Paul Claverie, an advisor to Arnault. “We are delighted to support its acquisition by the Louvre.”

(Photo credit: Wikimedia/Yorck Project)