Art Institute of Chicago to auction photography works by Kertész, Frank, Cartier-Bresson

The Art Institute of Chicago will sell part of its photography collection through Phillips auction houses in New York and London this autumn. Proceeds from the deaccessioning will fund future acquisitions, according to photography department curator Matthew S. Witkovsky. Works by André Kertész, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston, Irving Penn, and Robert Heinecken are included in the consignment. The museum has collected photographs as art since 1900 and maintained an active acquisitions program for nearly 65 years. Witkovsky described the sale as essential to the institution's progress, following a three-and-a-half-year assessment of holdings aimed at refining and diversifying the collection while better understanding existing treasures.