Leonard A. Lauder, the cosmetics executive and chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art, said on Tuesday that his art foundation would give the museum $131 million, the biggest donation in the Whitney’s 77-year history.

The bulk of the money — $125 million — will go toward the Whitney’s endowment, boosting it to $195 million from $70 million, Mr. Lauder said in a telephone interview.

The Whitney called the gift one of the largest donations ever to a New York museum’s endowment. Mr. Lauder said that the money required the museum not to sell its Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue at 75th Street for an extended period, although he declined to specify how long.