$1.8 million is raised for Met

An auction of new art by major living artists -- part of an ongoing effort by the Metropolitan Opera’s General Manager Peter Gelb to combine the visual and vocal arts while keeping his house humming along financially -- raised more than $1.8 million for future productions.

Most of the lots sold Sunday night were specially commissioned, opera-themed works. Soprano Renee Fleming, for example, was the subject of pieces by Chuck Close and Robert Wilson.

Also on the block was a William Wegman photograph of his Weimaraner hunting dogs dressed as Hansel and Gretel, in the costumes of next year’s Met production.