Art collectors you never heard of

Janice and Henri Lazarof have been intensely private about their love of art - until this morning. They're the folks who have given the Los Angeles County Museum of Art 130 works by major artists, including 20 by Picasso. The LAT estimates that the collection is worth more than $100 million. About 80 works will go on view next month, in advance of the first phase of an expansion and renovation program. So who are these people? Henri is a composer of international prominence, as well as a professor emeritus at UCLA. Here's a snippet from music publisher Theodore Presser:

An American citizen who makes his home in Los Angeles, Lazarof is, however, a man of the world whose art transcends both geographical and idiomatic boundaries. He is a demanding self-critic, constantly searching for the ultimate in expression while experimenting with the latest style trends. Lazarof has not suffered from neglect by the professionals: leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic ballet companies like the San Francisco Ballet, and distinguished chamber music groups, plus famous soloists have featured his music. Lazarof has successfully proven that there is both an audience and a market for well-constructed meaningful contemporary music.

Janice is a daughter of the late banker-philanthropist S. Mark Taper and president of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. As reported by the Times, the couple has maintained such a low profile in art circles that their names are not on art magazine lists of top collectors.

Stephanie Barron, the museum's senior curator of modern art, who has worked quietly for years to secure the collection for the museum, said the Lazarofs are "incredibly rare" philanthropists who have collected for their own pleasure, completely out of the limelight. "I watched their collection grow from modest to interesting to remarkable to astonishing, to the point when I felt I had to do everything I could to make the case for it to come to the museum," Barron said. "Not since the David Bright collection came to us in the mid-1960s has there been a single addition that allows the modern collection to turn a corner like this."