World-Renowned Collector Gifts Over 6,500 Photographs to the MET

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to receive over 6,500 historical and contemporary photography works from world-renowned collector Artur Walther and the Walther Family Foundation.

Art News reports that the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City has announced a promised gift of over 6,500 photographic works from the German-American collector Artur Walther and the Walther Family Foundation. Since 2010, under Walther’s direction, the eponymous art foundation has been operating annual photography-focused exhibitions and programs in New York and Germany.

With a collection described by the museum as one of the “most distinguished private collections of photography in the world,” this exciting promised gift will bring to the public an enormous curated gathering of modern and contemporary photographic art.

“Comprised of some 6,500 photographs, albums, and works of time-based media, the promised gift features modern and contemporary art from Africa, China, Japan, and Germany, among other places. Also included are 19th- and 20th-century vernacular photographs from the United States, Europe, Colombia, and Mexico,” the MET writes of the works to be gifted.

With such a generous and extensive collection to be added to the museum’s offerings, the MET already has plans to exhibit the work in the newly reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, as well as adding pieces from it to the collection displays in the new Oscar L. and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing. The MET, already known for its outstanding photography collection that it describes as “more than 75,000 works spanning the entire history of the medium,” is uniquely poised to utilize the works to create informative and inspiring exhibitions.

“Selections from the collection will be prominently featured in several upcoming museum presentations. In the first of these, photographs by such renowned African artists as Seydou Keïta and Samuel Fosso will accompany the inauguration of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing when it reopens in May 2025. A focused exhibition of international selections from the promised gift will then be presented in fall 2025, followed by a comprehensive show of the collection in 2028. Photographs and time-based media will also be incorporated into future displays in the Tang Wing, The Met’s new galleries for modern and contemporary art set to open in 2030.”

“This vast trove of photographs from Artur Walther and his foundation is nothing short of extraordinary. It demonstrates Artur’s passion as a trailblazing collector and visionary explorer, and brings his sustained scholarly engagement with living artists and photographic practice to a new level,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “With its impressive scope, depth, and quality, the generous promised gift expands our ability to tell a global history of photography—one that reflects the diversity, complexity, and artistry of the medium across centuries and continents. In addition to the upcoming display in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, these works will also come to the fore and play an important role in our future collection displays of global 20th- and 21st- century art in the Tang Wing.”

The gifted collection has a broad scope of images, with its strongest being described as African studio photography, German post-war photography, Chinese conceptual art, as well as vernacular images, which, in contrast to fine art, are more casual and functional, such as snapshots or amateur photographs.

Highlights from the collection include work by 20th-century and contemporary photographers from all walks of life and multiple continents for a diverse and well-rounded assemblage. African art, one of the largest parts of the Walther collection, is represented by imagery from photographers Seydou Keïta, Malick Sidibé, Samuel Fosso, Zanele Muholi, David Goldblatt, Santu Mofokeng, Yto Barrada, Jo Ractliffe, Lebohang Kganye, S. J. Moodley, Guy Tillim, and J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere. Equally rich is the collection of photographs and video from China with notable pieces by Ai Weiwei, Hai Bo, Hong Hao, Luo Yongjin, Yang Fudong, and Zhang Huan. An especially large holding of work by Japanese photographers Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki adds to the Asian voices represented.

Of the importance of the promised gift, Jeff L. Rosenheim, Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs, added, “At The Met, The Walther Collection will become an essential resource for scholars and museum-goers. With its phenomenal range of photographs and time-based media, the Collection introduces perspectives from artists around the globe, situating the camera as a powerful tool for social critique, reflection, and change.”

Image credits: Cover image by Hugo Schneider licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.