California software entrepreneur Peter Norton and his wife, Eileen, are donating 1,000 works of art -- estimated to be worth about $3 million -- from their personal collection to 28 museums in the U.S. and a gallery in London. It is one of the largest gifts of contemporary art by a private donor, The Associated Press reports.

The works -- by more than 460 artists -- will go to the Tate Gallery in London and U.S. institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, AP reports. College art galleries throughout the country also will receive "themed" donations of the works, which are primarily from the 1990s.

Norton, 56, called the works "generally minor," but are significant to many of the smaller recipients. Many of those smaller galleries are just beginning to put together collections.

The couple started their collection in the early 1980s, and it soon filled several homes, a warehouse and offices. An art consultant to Norton and the director of arts programs for the Norton Foundation spent two years going through the Nortons' collection to assemble the 1,000-piece donation -- 40 percent of their collection.

The donations follow a $600,000 gift Norton made in September to the Signature Theater Co. in Manhattan, and the $150,000 he paid at auction last year for the private letters novelist J.D. Salinger sent to Joyce Maynard. Norton sent the letters back to Salinger, according to news reports.

Norton began his computer programming business in 1981. He invented programs including UnErase and the Norton antivirus software. He sold the company to Symantec Corp. in 1990.

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