Westside : GENEROUS OFFER
A Park La Brea art collector has offered to donate his collection of paintings, which he estimates is worth $8 million, to Culver City, including originals by Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent, Aguste Rodin and Jose Clemente Orozco.
But 1930s tennis star Gene Mako, 79, has attached a couple of conditions. He wants the city to find a permanent place to display the art and dedicate some of the space to paintings by his late father, Batholomew Mako, a Hungarian immigrant best known in Los Angeles for producing artwork for public places, including St. Sophia’s Church.
“I don’t have any heirs and I don’t want to see beautiful artwork go to waste,” said Mako, who won the Wimbledon doubles title in 1937 and 1938 with Don Budge.
City officials are evaluating the offer, said Susan Berg, an official with Culver City’s redevelopment agency.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
