BASEL, SWITZERLAND.- /PRNewswire/ During a recent trip to Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland, Anthony Kennedy Shriver purchased an original Romero Britto acrylic on canvas, and then donated the work to Beyeler's permanent collection. Shriver acquired "Beyeler - For the Love of Art," a 20 inch by 18 inch portrait of world-renowned art collector and dealer Ernst Beyeler, for $40,000 USD.

"Ernst Beyeler is an amazing man with a great vision and commitment to bringing the arts to all people, and Romero Britto is an exceptional artist and a loyal friend to Best Buddies. I admire the contributions they both have made to the world through art, and I wanted to show my appreciation," says Shriver, founder and chairman of Best Buddies International, a nonprofit serving people with intellectual disabilities.

Britto, who has extensively contributed to charities in the Miami community and abroad, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in art to support Best Buddies, in addition to designing the jerseys for the organization's Hyannis Port and Hearst Castle cycling events.

Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies is the largest nonprofit devoted solely to providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment to people with intellectual disabilities. To learn more, visit http://www.bestbuddies.org.

Over a period of fifty years, Hildy and Ernst Beyeler built up an exceptional collection of works by modern masters. Currently comprising around 200 works, the Beyeler Collection documents a very personal view of modern art and an unerring ability to recognize quality. The opening of the Fondation Beyeler in October 1997 provided the Beyeler Collection with a public museum. Works by modern masters such as Cezanne, Picasso, Rousseau, Mondrian, Klee, Ernst, Matisse, Newman, Bacon, Dubuffet and Baselitz are displayed alongside, and in direct interaction with, 25 objects from Africa, Alaska and Oceania.