France Honors Dr. Armand Hammer

PARIS — American industrialist Dr. Armand Hammer was decorated Wednesday with one of France’s highest awards for contributions to the arts.

Culture Minister Jack Lang made Hammer, the 90-year-old chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp., commander of arts and letters in a ceremony at the Culture Ministry. Lang noted that Hammer spent nine years in the Soviet Union amassing a collection of 18th-Century French furniture and rare French china.