Minneapolis Institute Of Arts Receives Rare East Asian Art

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has received nearly 700 pieces of rare East Asian artwork and a $12.5 million endowment from a former St. Paul resident.

Although Mary Griggs Burke most recently lived in New York City, she decided to bequeath the bulk of her private art collection, which is considered to be the finest of its kind outside of Japan, to the Minneapolis museum. It includes pieces of Japanese and Korean artwork spanning 5,000 years, from pre-historic to contemporary times.

The museum's collection of East Asian artwork now will include more than 7,000 objects.

Burke also bequeathed 320 pieces of Japanese and Korean art, as well as an additional $12.5 million endowment, to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She died in 2012 at age 96.

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