A collection of Magnum press prints bought by Dell computer founder Michael Dell a few years ago from the Magnum New York archives has been donated to the Harry Ransom Center.
The say: The Magnum Photos collection, which contains nearly 200,000 press prints of images taken by world-renowned Magnum photographers, has been donated to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The gift was made by Michael and Susan Dell, Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman and John and Amy Phelan.
Mr. Dell is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Dell Inc. Messrs. Fuhrman and Phelan are Co-Managing Partners and Co-Founders of MSD Capital, L.P., the private investment firm for Mr. Dell and his family.
“The Dells, the Fuhrmans and the Phelans have given UT one of the richest collections of photographs documenting the visual culture of the 20th century,” said university president Bill Powers. “It will serve as a tremendous resource for our students and faculty and for humanities scholars from throughout the world. The Magnum Photos collection is one more example of the Dell family’s support of UT, the Austin community and Texas.”
The donation of the Magnum Photos collection is expected to be the single-largest gift to the Ransom Center ever, Powers said.
In 2009, the Dells, Fuhrmans and Phelans purchased the collection from Magnum Photos. Since late 2009, the collection has resided at the University’s Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum, where it is being preserved and made accessible for research.