The Walther photography collection gift to the Met is among the largest the museum has ever received. The Walther Family Foundation and collector Artur Walther are donating over 6,500 works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The huge gift comprises photographs from Germany, Japan, Africa, and China, and vernacular photography from throughout Europe and the Americas. The Walther photography collection donation to the Met introduces new international perspectives to the museum’s extensive art collections.
Part of this gift will reside within the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. This part of the museum has been undergoing renovation and will reopen later this month. Visitors will be able to view powerful photography by renowned African photographers. The concept is to demonstrate how photography narrates stories from various cultures, nations, and eras in time. The gift of the Walther photography collection to the Met makes it possible on a much larger scale.
Walther Photography Collection Gift Offers ‘Deep and Diverse Collection’
This set has no single time or location. It is broad and comprises four primary areas. First, it possesses an excellent collection of 20th-century African photography up to the current day. Some famous names represented here include Malick Sidibé, David Goldblatt, Zanele Muholi, and Guy Tillim.
Secondly, the collection includes powerful photo—and video-based pieces from China. Artists like Ai Weiwei and Yang Fudong are among those featured. The pieces demonstrate photography’s ability to question, challenge, and probe identity and society.
The third area of interest is Germany. Walther started collecting with German photographers such as Bernd and Hilla Becher, August Sander, and Thomas Ruff. These artists were instrumental in defining the contemporary understanding of photography as a medium of art.
Lastly, the collection focuses on vernacular photography. This encompasses ordinary and anonymous photographs from Europe, Mexico, Colombia, and the United States. Some date back to the 1840s and demonstrate how photography has evolved over almost two centuries.
The donation will not be seen just in the Rockefeller Wing. It will be part of future exhibitions in the museum’s proposed $550 million Modern and Contemporary Art Wing, which is scheduled to open in 2030. With this sizeable and diverse collection, the museum can tell even more stories about people, places, and history through the lens of the camera.
Final Thoughts
This type of gift changes a museum’s perspective on the world. Viewing photography from many countries in one place allows viewers to better comprehend cultures outside of their own. To me, the vernacular and African photography were the most striking. They are intimate, unrefined, and frequently emotional. These are the images that linger. They are not simply art. Instead, they are words from locations we do not always have the privilege of visiting.
[via ARTnews; Image credits: Lucas Ferretti via Wikimedia Commons]
