PARIS: A Texan couple who discovered their love for art during a trip to Paris in the 1970s are to donate the multi-million dollar collection they have amassed since to the French capital.
Businessman Spencer Hays and his wife Marlene were in the city Saturday to formalise the first instalment of their donation — 187 works including pieces by Edgar Degas and Amedeo Modigliani worth around 173 million euros ($188 million) — to the Musee d’Orsay.
“When Marlene and I grew up in a little town in Gainesville, Texas, even visiting France was far beyond our great expectations. But in 1971 we made our first trip to Paris, and our love affair with this wonderful country began,” Hays told a crowd which included President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace.
