DuPont gives hotel art to 3 area museums, United Way

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The DuPont Co. announced Wednesday it has donated key pieces of its hotel art collection to three area museums and is giving 400 other works to United Way of Delaware to sell as a fundraiser.

The move ensures that paintings by area artists such as N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth as well as Frank Schoonover and Ed Loper will remain in Delaware, on view, for generations to come.

Splitting the major paintings are the Delaware Art Museum, which took 13 pieces; the Hagley Museum and Library, which chose six; and the Brandywine River Museum of Art, which chose three.

DuPont, which began buying art for the hotel in 1937, did not disclose the collection's value and would not discuss terms of the donations. But museum spokesmen said one of the requirements was that while the art could be stored and undergo conservation treatments, it must be displayed for the public to see, not sequestered in private rooms.

Delaware Art Museum director Sam Sweet praised DuPont's sense of community responsibility, pointing out that during the past 80 years the paintings essentially have been guests at thousands of family dinners and parties at the hotel.

"So many people have personal connections to the work," Sweet said. "We were just delighted to be able to work with DuPont to make sure these pieces stay in the community and make sure they are part of people's lives. This is a great way to strengthen our collection, not just to the works and the artist, but to the individuals who have had these works as part of their family celebrations at the hotel."

“People have the availability to visit their old friends,” added Jill MacKenzie, Hagley’s director of audience engagement.

The donation follows last month's announcement that DuPont had sold its hotel business to Buccini/Pollin, a Wilmington-based developer. Under the agreement, Buccini’s Washington, D.C.-based management affiliate, PM Hotel Group, assumes control of the 217-room hotel’s operations. A price was not disclosed.

DuPont had owned and operated the 12-story Italian Renaissance building for much of its 104-year existence. “The Hotel” has been considered Wilmington’s “front door” ever since it opened in 1913. Its internationally known Green Room restaurant and stately Gold Ballroom will continue to operate, according to Buccini officials.

Separately, DuPont is exploring the sale of its 525-acre country club on Rockland Road in Rockland ahead of a proposed $130 billion merger with the Dow Chemical Co. later this year.

“DuPont is pleased to make this significant gift to the Wilmington community,” Richard C. Olson, senior vice president, DuPont Corporate Services, said in a press release. “These outstanding museums will ensure the care and conservation of important works from our collection so that the public can enjoy them for generations to come. Our gift to United Way of Delaware continues a partnership that spans more than 70 years and will help support programs that benefit more than 100,000 Delawareans each year.”

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