The Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University opened in 1941 under the direction of Henry Radford Hope. The museum was intended to be the center of a “cultural crossroads,” an idea brought forth by then-Indiana University President Herman B Wells. The present museum building was designed by I.M. Pei and Partners and dedicated in 1982. The museum’s collection comprises approximately 45,000 objects, with about 1,400 on display. The collection is substantiated by a wide range of works, including a large collection of ancient jewelry and paintings by Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. In May of 2016, after the announcement of the largest cash gift in the museum's history, the museum was renamed the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art in honor of Indianapolis-based philanthropists Sidney