Axelrod’s sudden death stunned Boston’s philanthropic and cultural communities, where for decades he was known as a reliable and prolific benefactor.
Axelrod was “a generous supporter and passionate advocate for underrepresented artists,” who had been part of the MFA community since the 1980s, the museum said in a statement.
The John Axelrod Collection at the MFA contains nearly 70 works by Black artists, the statement said.
The crash occurred on a cold morning, when Axelrod joined a friend to walk their dogs on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, perhaps the city’s grandest boulevard.
Prosecutors allege Haney “intentionally” hit Axelrod with his vehicle, allegedly driving onto the tree-lined median strip, and struck Axelrod, according to another friend, who asked not to be identified.
Officers responded about 8:09 a.m. to a report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Hereford Street, police said in a statement.
Axelrod was rushed to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries, officials said. His dog, Tale, was also killed in the collision.
The driver, later identified as Haney, allegedly did not stop, police said.
Boston Police Operations broadcast a description of the vehicle and Brookline Police located it unoccupied in Brookline, authorities said.
Officials on Sunday announced charges against Haney, who turned himself in to Brookline police.
Prosecutors allege Haney “intentionally” hit Axelrod with his car. It was not known if he had a lawyer on Sunday.
Axelrod leaves behind a legacy of generosity and artistic enrichment at the MFA where his gifts reshaped the institution’s collection.
“His legacy will live on at the Museum through the John Axelrod Collection—a transformative acquisition including Archibald Motley, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alan Rohan Crite, Loïs Mailou Jones, and Kerry James Marshall,” the MFA’s statement said.
Axelrod also gave the museum “substantial collections of 20th-century European decorative arts, including numerous examples of Memphis Group designs, and, between 2008-2015, some 377 pieces of American Modern design from the 1920s and ’30s,” the statement said.
On Sunday afternoon, light snow and biting wind swept through Back Bay. Dog walkers and neighborhood residents continued to pass through Commonwealth Avenue as usual. There was no visible trace of the collision. Some said they had no idea anything had happened.
There was no snowfall at the time of the crash Saturday morning and temperatures were around 21 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Axelrod is ranked among the most prominent supporters of the MFA.
He donated nearly 700 works to the museum, according to a 2014 press statement by the MFA, including several collections of 20th century decorative arts from Europe and the United States. His gift of 67 works of African American artists established the John Axelrod Collection in 2011.
He donated his first works to the MFA in 1985, the Globe reported. His donations to the museum often covered areas of art that he felt were underappreciated, but he maintained that those areas should not be trivialized or dismissed.
“The fact that these artists were Black or whatever didn’t make a difference,” he told the Globe in 2011. “They were great artists.”
Axelrod served as an honorary advisor to the MFA, and served on its diversity committee. A gallery named in his honor houses several of his donations — painted porcelain, a midcentury radio, and several paintings of the Harlem Renaissance, among other items.
The son of a developer, Axelrod grew up in Andover and attended Phillips Academy, Yale University, and Harvard Law School, the Globe reported.
Recalling his first-ever art purchase — an oil painting of the wharf in Gloucester — he suggested in a 2015 interview that, though his appreciation of art had deepened since then, his approach to buying new works had not fundamentally changed.
“Most importantly, and maybe connecting me now to when I was a teenager and bought that painting of the fishing boats, I ask myself: ‘Do I love it?’” he said. “It’s a kind of gut check, and if the answer is no, well that’s the end of the discussion. You move on.”
Axelrod’s collecting interests ranged from American decorative arts, European glassware, African-American painting, and even New York City graffiti of the 1970s and ’80s.
“It’s very simple,” Axelrod previously told the Globe. “Nature abhors a void. I guess you go from there. Obsessive collectors abhor blank walls.”
Axelrod also showed a deep love for dogs. His Facebook page shows many photos of him with his dog, Tale, and his previous dog, Myrna, along with funny dog videos and memes. He wrote in June 2022 that Myrna had died after more than 15 years ″of total love.”
A couple months later, Axelrod wrote in a post, “Tale: I am the new dog in John’s life. Like the late Myrna I am an Australian Terrier with plenty of spirit.”
Other posts showed Tale adjusting “to city life.”
“She loves sitting on a park bench and hearing all the cars, sirens trucks etc that pass by and to watch, and mingle with the steady stream of people and dogs,” he wrote on Facebook in August 2022.
His last public post on Dec. 11 showed Tale “after being groomed for Christmas.”
Kathy McCabe and Nick Stoico of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports. Sarah Rahal can be reached at sarah.rahal@globe.com. Follow her on X @SarahRahal_ or Instagram @sarah.rahal.
