The philanthropist and collector Barbara Lee is giving the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston 20 works by 12 female artists with a value estimated at $42 million, the largest gift by value in the museum’s history, officials said.
The new donations build on the gift last year by Ms. Lee of 43 other works by female artists that established the Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women at the museum.
The latest gift, of sculptures, installation works and paintings, among others, are by major figures such as Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois, Sherrie Levine and Kara Walker.
The institute said the collection represents three decades of collecting by Ms. Lee. In a statement, Ms. Lee said that her gift “put women front and center” at the institute. Ms. Lee, who promotes women in contemporary art, is also a political activist who helps women run for elected office. She is vice chair of the Institute of Contemporary Art’s board of trustees.
Jill Medvedow, the institute’s director, said the collection allows the museum “to tell urgent and undertold histories of postwar and contemporary art.”