METROPOLITAN MUSEUM ANNOUNCES HELEN LEVITT ENDOWMENT FUND AND GIFT

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today a new endowment fund and promised gift of artwork in memory of the American photographer Helen Levitt, who died on March 29. The Helen Levitt Memorial Fund has been established through a generous planned gift of the artist’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert O. Levitt, and will support the museum’s acquisition of photographers working in her tradition. Levitt also made a promised gift to the museum of twelve of the artist’s photographs. “Helen Levitt was singular in her lyrical style of photography and her ability to capture the hidden poetry of everyday street life in New York City,” noted Thomas P. Campbell, director of the museum. “The endowment fund and promised gift from Levitt are wonderful tributes to Helen Levitt’s achievements as an artist and her important place in the history of twentieth-century photography.”