The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has received a bequest valued at between $400 million and $450 million from the estate of Caroline Wiess Law, the daughter of one of the founders of the Humble Oil Co., the Houston Chronicle reports.

Law, who died in December 2003 at the age of eighty-five, was the daughter of Harry C. Wiess, who co-founded the oil company that later became Exxon and then ExxonMobil. When all her assets are finally liquidated, the bequest could swell the MFA's endowment to nearly $800 million and will be used to support a capital campaign to fund the construction of a new building to house the museum's twentieth century and contemporary art collections. Law, an avid art collector and MFA life trustee, also left her contemporary art collection, valued at between $60 million and $85 million, to the museum.

"In recent history, this would be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, cash gifts to an art museum," said Mimi Gaudieri, executive director of the New York City-based Association of Art Museum Directors. "This money will help make Houston one of the most important museums in terms of programming and serving the public."

According to the Chronicle, Law named the museum the residual beneficiary of her estate. Anything not specifically given to a person or institution goes to the museum, including the assets of her foundation, which are valued at $18 million. The foundation is scheduled to be dissolved by the end of the year.