In an unprecedented move, L Brands founder Leslie H. Wexner and his wife, Abigail, will put part of their private art collection on public display to help the center named for his father celebrate its 25th anniversary.

In an unprecedented move, L Brands founder Leslie H. Wexner and his wife, Abigail, will put part of their private art collection on public display to help the center named for his father celebrate its 25th anniversary.

"Transfigurations: Modern Masters from the Wexner Family Collection" will focus on works by three giants of 20th-century art: Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Jean Dubuffet.

The three-month exhibit - to be presented from Sept. 21 through Dec. 31 at Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts - will encompass about 60 pieces from the couple's New Albany home.

"Abigail and I are happy to share the collection that we have the privilege and pleasure to live with every day," Mr. Wexner said in a statement. "We are so grateful to the Columbus community for its generous support of the center over 25 years.

"At the same time, the exhibition creates an opportunity for Ohio State to be an incubator for new scholarship and critical dialogue surrounding these remarkable artists, their work and their influence."

Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin hailed the scope of the exhibit, calling the pieces from the three notable artists "absolutely stunning masterpieces."

"It's not simply a singular collection nationally, but in the world, for the quality and depth of its holdings by each of these artists," she said.

Among the most-famous works to be showcased will be Picasso's Nudeon a Black Armchair - a piece that Mrs. Wexner called her favorite in the collection.

Mr. Wexner stunned the art world in 1999 when he paid $45.1 million for the painting at a Christie's International auction in New York. That made it the fifth-most-expensive piece by the Spanish master to be sold at auction at that time.

"It is among the most-arresting paintings I've ever seen in my life," Geldin said. "It's to swoon for; it just is."

The family collection includes works by other artists, including some that will be part of the exhibit, Geldin said. "But Dubuffet, Giacometti and Picasso constitute the focal point, the deepest collection."

Dubuffet will be represented by 14 works (created from 1944 to 1963); Giacometti, by 18 works (1947 to 1963); and Picasso, by 18 works spanning 61 years (1898 to 1959).

Mr. Wexner began collecting art in the 1970s and, by the mid- to late- '80s, he began to refine his inventory, focusing on specific artists and themes.

Such singular focus has become unusual among collectors, said Robert Storr, the guest curator for the exhibit.

"Once upon a time, it was more common," said Storr, professor and dean of the Yale University School of Art and former senior curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. "Today, people tend to collect a sampling."

Storr praised the Wexners for their "rare discipline, passion and discernment" in assembling the collection.

"They are avid collectors, indeed," he said. "It helps to have deep pockets, but a lot of people have deep pockets and will get distracted by something fashionable or that seems like a bargain. They do have a really serious collection."

The subject matter of the works is distinct, Storr said, in that it focuses on the human figure rather than abstract images.

"It's consistent throughout everything they've collected. They have identified the two or three artists in the post-war era who continued to focus on the human figure when the rest of the world was moving into abstraction."

Such a focus, Geldin said, is "a metaphor for the human condition, and for that reason, this is a really touching collection."

"The images can be heart-wrenching - from classically composed and really heartwarming portraits of mothers and children to Picasso's heart-wrenching (and more abstract) images of women crying over lost loved ones in war."

The Wexners' personal collection is unlikely to appear anywhere else, Geldin said.

"We think this is a true milestone moment for the center."

Discussions about an exhibit, Mrs. Wexner said, began several years ago.

"We were very cautious," she said. "Les in particular discussed whether the collection was of a caliber to be put on display publicly - if there was enough for a show.

"And we were concerned if it would be seen as self-promoting."

The safety of the artworks, too, was something of a concern, she said.

"If any was damaged, you'd feel personally responsible. They're not replicable. In a way, you're a caretaker of these works for some period of time, and then you pass them along."

During the run of the exhibit, Mrs. Wexner said, the walls at their home won't be empty.

"This is funny," she said, chuckling, "but we're going to put up cardboard photographs of the works to take up space."

tferan@dispatch.com