of 92, Berggruen donated a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, Standing Woman III, to the collection in December 2006. It had in fact already been on loan at the museum until then, standing in the Stüler Building's rotunda. To keep the two-metre high bronze statue within the collection – his life's work – Berggruen quickly purchased it and donated it to the PCHF. Several weeks later, on 23 February 2007, he died in Paris. The museum received 1.5 million visitors during its first decade from 1996 to 2006. Besides the permanent exhibition "Picasso and His Time", the museum hosts numerous special exhibitions on themes of classic modern art. Expansion In July 2007 the heirs to Berggruen's estate announced that they would present a further 50 classic modern works to the museum, in order to continue in their father's tradition of reconciliation with Germany. Since the transfer at Christmas 2000 Berggruen had continued to purchase paintings, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Klee and Cézanne, among others. To make an expansion possible, the state of Berlin announced that it would endow the PCHF with a new building for its 50th anniversary: the Kommandantenhaus, adjacent to the West Stüler Building. A society for friends of the Berggruen Museum (Förderkreis Museum Berggruen e. V.) was founded at the same time, with members including Berggruen's widow Bettina, his children Nicolas, Olivier, John and Helen, as well as Michael Blumenthal, Michael Naumann and Simon de Pury. The PCHF agreed to take on the running costs of the society. Plans were announced in 2008 to connect the two buildings with a glass pergola, chosen from an architectural competition, to be paid for by the government and installed by the state of Berlin. In May 2008 a further 70 paintings were added to the collection. In 2011, the seminal Picasso painting Les Femmes d'Alger ("Version L," 1955) was acquired for the museum at auction for $21.4 million. Collection highlights References External links Art museums and galleries in Berlin Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Art museums established in 1996 1996 establishments in Germany Berlin State Museums Berggruen family