Met Museum's Gift from Collector Brings African Photography into the Spotlight

This is the triumph of the recently announced gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) by the globally renowned art collector Artur Walther, who has assembled one of the most remarkable private collections in the world. Through his Walther Family Foundation, Walther has donated about 6,500 photographs to The Met, featuring modern and contemporary art from Africa, Asia, and Europe, among other places.

The Collection highlights prominent African artists such as Seydou Keïta and Samuel Fosso, whose impressive works will be featured during the inauguration of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at the museum on May 31.

"The vast trove of photographs from Arthur Walther and his foundation is nothing short of extraordinary," 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."

Further reiterating the importance of the gift, Jeff L. Rosenheim, who's in charge of the Department of Photographs, said, "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."

In a statement, Walther emphasized the need for broader representation in the photography and arts scene. "It has been the Collection's mission to break away from traditional frameworks and to juxtapose works from African and Asian artists with those from Europe and America, creating a dialogue across time and space, across temporalities, and across geographies," he affirmed. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art's commitment to modern and contemporary art, and the arts of Africa and Asia, will continue this approach and make the artworks available to its diverse constituency of visitors from all over the world."

In 2010, The Walther Collection opened its inaugural exhibition, Events of the Self: Portraiture and Social Identity, organized by the late curator Okwui Enwezor, at its newly designed Museum Campus in Neu-Ulm, Germany. Since then, the Collection has organized nine major thematic and monographic exhibitions at its museum. Several of these exhibitions traveled widely, including to museums in Europe, Mexico, and West Africa.