Photographs up for grabs included this image by Robert Mapplethorpe
Picture credit: © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Courtesy Sean Kelley Gallery
A photography sale has raised $650,000 (around £407,000) to help combat the effects of the recession at George Eastman House, a museum named after the founder of Kodak.
However, the amount raised fell short of the target set by organisers who had valued the 300 photographic lots at more than $1m.
The items, which included daguerreotypes and photogravures, were donated by 227 collectors, galleries and dealers worldwide.
A 1931 toned gelatin silver pint by Paul Everard Outerbridge fetched the most at Sotheby’s New York, bowing out at $65,000.
Eastman House director Anthony Bannon said: ‘For more than 60 years George Eastman House has showcased and supported the celebrated artists of photography, and for this auction we turned to the photography world to support the museum. We are overwhelmed by how enthusiastically all have embraced this effort.?
Last week a spokesman for the institution, which is based in Rochester, New York, said: ?The challenge of the recession has required the museum to employ new fiscal ventures, such as this auction.?
The museum last staged an auction in 1977.
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‘Consciousness’ by Paul Everard Outerbridge
Picture credit: Paul Everard Outerbridge
Bert Stern, Marilyn Monroe, from ‘The Last Sitting’ (Diamonds), 1962
Picture credit: Donation of the artist and Staley-Wise Gallery
