LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced the acquisition of one of the 20th century's largest private collections of Oceanic art. Featuring a significant number of works from Polynesia and Melanesia, the collection also boasts Micronesian and Australian objects.

A $5-million challenge grant from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation funded the acquisition of 46 historic pieces, including an Easter Islands dance paddle and a Hawaiian drum collected in 1778 by Captain James Cook. The grant was matched by LACMA trustees David Bohnett, Jane and Terry Semel, Gayle and Ed Roski, and Camilla Chandler Frost. The works were purchased from Masco Corporation chairman Richard Manoogian and identified by Sotheby's. Prior to the acquisition, the collection appeared at several museums, including the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the North Carolina Museum of Art. The collection will be on view at LACMA in February 2009.