Ray D. Nasher, arts patron

DALLAS -- Raymond D. Nasher, an arts patron who helped establish museums in Texas and at Duke University and made a fortune in banking and real estate, died Friday, a spokesman for his foundation said. He was 85.

Nasher died in a Dallas hospital, said Elliot Cattarulla, the executive director of the Nasher Foundation. Cattarulla declined to release additional details, citing the wishes of the Nasher family.

Nasher and his wife, Patsy, before her death, amassed what one expert described as the "world's greatest private collection of modern and contemporary sculpture." The real estate developer was also considered a pioneer in placing sculptures in commercial retail complexes, including the NorthPark Center in Dallas.

For the Nashers, collecting art "was very much a joy and a passion, but also very personal," his daughter Nancy Nasher told The Associated Press in 2005, when the Nasher Museum of Art opened at Duke in Durham, N.C. "There was no grand plan. They just did it."

The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, which opened in 2003, includes pieces by Willem de Kooning, Paul Gauguin and Pablo Picasso.

At Duke, his alma mater, Nasher donated $10 million to fund construction of the $23 million museum and loaned his private collection for its exhibits. On display there were Andy Warhol portraits of his wife and their three daughters -- Andrea, Joanie and Nancy -- that had previously hung only in the hallway outside the Nashers' bedroom.

Nasher was considered the driving force in Dallas behind generating support from the business community to fund the arts. He established the Dallas Business Committee for the Arts in 1988, whose contributions to arts projects have increased from $4.5 million a year to about $24 million annually, according to the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Nasher served on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities under the last three presidents. During Lyndon Johnson's administration, Nasher was chairman of the National Commission of Urban Development and later a delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations. Since 1995 he has served on the Council on Foreign Relations.