New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has been bequeathed 85 works of art by early 20th century artists such as Matisse, Picasso, Miro and Modigliani, reports Jane Hughes.

The collection is valued at $300m, and the museum has described it as one of the most important gifts it has ever received.

The Metropolitan Museum already houses one of the most important art collections in the world, and this bequest makes its 20th-century section even stronger. It includes a Degas sculpture, Matisse's Young Sailor Two, which is considered a classic example of his work, several pieces by Picasso and the museum's first works by Mondrian, Bacon and Giacometti.

The collection belonged to Natasha Gelman, who died on Saturday at the age of 86. She and her husband, who was a film producer, were passionate about art and spent much of their life amassing the works.