Rutgers receives $34 million gift in Soviet art collection

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers University is receiving the largest gift in its history.

The university announced on Thursday the $34 million collection of Soviet nonconformist art will be displayed at the school’s New Brunswick, New Jersey, campus. NJ.com reports the donation comes from Nancy Dodge, the widow of art collector and economist Norton Dodge.

The collection includes 173,000 works, one of the world’s largest collections of Soviet nonconformist art — which is notable for using images of Communist propaganda to mock the governing system.

The university says it will also receive a separate $10 million from the Avenir Foundation to help maintain the collection.

The school says the gifts will make university’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum the world’s principle site for studying underground art from the Soviet Union.