WARREN, NJ.-The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has donated a damaged painting to the Morris Louis Conservation Fund, which helps conserve works by Morris Louis and other Color Field painters. Louis was an American abstract expressionist painter who emerged in the 1950s. His paintings have been linked to a tradition exemplified by Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, whose works included large areas of solid color.

The painting Chubb donated, “Delta KSI,” had sustained severe damage due to a fire and sprinkler discharge in New York. Chubb took possession of the work after settling an insurance claim with a private collector.

“Rather than destroy the painting, we decided to donate it to the Morris Louis Conservation Fund for educational and conservation purposes,” said Dorit Straus, worldwide fine arts manager at Chubb Personal Insurance. “While current conservation techniques are unable to repair this work, the fund can use the painting to research new techniques and practices.”

“It’s very rare to have a painting donated exclusively for conservation research purposes,” said Diane Upright, a member of the board of the Morris Louis Conservation Fund. “The fund has supported conservation research since its inception, and, hopefully, this painting will help us advance the practice of conservation in a way that can benefit the art community as a whole.”

The Morris Louis Conservation was founded in 2001 as a non-profit Maryland corporation to fund the conservation of Louis’ paintings in public museums and to support research related to the conservation of Color Field paintings. The fund has sponsored conservation symposia at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Chubb is a leading provider of personal insurance coverage for artwork and other valuable collections as well as commercial insurance coverage for many prominent art institutions around the world. For art collectors, Chubb provides comprehensive insurance through its Masterpiece® Valuable Articles Coverage and a broad range of services through its collector specialists and collections management software tools. The specialists conduct premise surveys of homes and storage facilities to assess display conditions, recommend fire and security protection and identify insurance issues. They also make referrals to a network of independent experts, including conservators, restorers, appraisers and security specialists.

The member insurers of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies form a multi-billion dollar organization providing property and casualty insurance for personal and commercial customers worldwide through 8,500 independent agents and brokers. Chubb's global network includes branches and affiliates throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. More information on Chubb is available at www.chubb.com/personal.