5.23.2005 ET

(CSRwire) NEW YORK, N.Y. - United Technologies Corp. will celebrate a quarter century of arts support by underwriting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York a major exhibition of rarely seen drawings by Vincent van Gogh and by commissioning three contemporary artists to create larger-than-life artwork in the SoHo section of New York City, UTC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George David announced today.

"Over the past 25 years United Technologies has enthusiastically supported the arts, providing more than $55 million in funding and sponsoring 54 exhibitions on four continents," David said. "We are a company founded on innovation and believe the arts, like science and engineering, both inspire us and challenge our notions of impossibility."

David announced that three artists have been commissioned to produce original paintings that will go on display at outdoor locations in New York City in September. They are Alex Katz, an American known for his portraits and unique style of modern realism; Gary Hume, a British artist whose work ranges from figurative pop culture to abstract works; and Lisa Sanditz, an emerging American artist known for her colorful cubist landscapes. Their paintings will be prominently on view at 40 East 4th Street (Katz); 155 Houston St. (Hume); and 343 Canal St. (Sanditz).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings, also supported by UTC, from October 18 through December 31, 2005. Museum Director Philippe de Montebello commented: "More than just a supporter of the arts, United Technologies is a supporter of artists and the creative process. Their celebration of new art along with the once-in-a-lifetime Van Gogh exhibition are two ends of a common thread that run through its corporate history."

The exhibition - produced in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where it is on view this summer - includes more than 100 of Van Gogh's rarely seen drawings, brought together from public and private collections throughout the world.

Gary Tinterow, the Engelhard Curator-in-Charge of the Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum, said, "It is a happy occasion when a corporate sponsor celebrates its cultural patronage by commissioning new works of art. Millions of New Yorkers will pass by the billboards that UTC will create, many to be introduced for the first time to the work of Hume, Katz, and Sanditz. Van Gogh is now a well-recognized name, but we hope many of those same New Yorkers will take the opportunity to visit the exhibition of Van Gogh drawings at the Met, made possible by UTC, so that they can be introduced to some of the most powerful and cogent watercolors and drawings ever made."

United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company that provides high technology products and services to the aerospace and commercial building industries worldwide. UTC's businesses include Otis Elevator, Carrier heating and air conditioning, UTC Fire & Security, UTC Power, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems, and Sikorsky helicopters. Fortune Magazine has ranked UTC as the "Most Admired" aerospace company every year since 2001 based on criteria including social responsibility, innovation and financial performance.

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