Prints & Drawings

An influential American Expressionist, Robert Motherwell was a printmaker and editor. He attended the California School of Fine Arts, received his BA in Philosophy from Stanford, and his Ph.D. from Harvard. Later, he studied at Columbia University. It was while at Stanford that Motherwell first encountered Modernism through his study of Symbolist literature. His fascination [...]

Since the mid-1950s, Jasper Johns has reworked key motifs—flags, targets, maps, the alphabet, and numbers—in a serial fashion, exploring the impact of changes in color, scale, sequence, and medium. Johns favors subjects that “the mind already knows” but overlooks due to constant exposure. The subject of the series this piece is a part of, therefore, [...]

Part of Zorn’s famous nude series, this etching was created two years before the start of World War I. Zorn was a Swedish virtuoso who used different media to create images that invoke emotions in the viewer. The medium used to create this piece is etching. An etching is created when a copper plate is [...]

This drypoint was created during World War I while McBey was stationed in Boulogne, France. During this period France was second only to the United States of America in regards to being an industrialized immigrant society. Immigrant workers contributed to the war effort by supporting the industrial production. Looking at this piece you can see [...]

This woodblock print was created by Sadao Watanabe, a famous Japanese printmaker of the twentieth century. Watanabe is best known for his biblical productions made in the traditional Japanese style. The scene depicted here is of a nativity, with three men praying over a child being held by its mother. The print is primarily monochrome, [...]

This print was made by Hiroshige Ando, a great Japanese printmaker famous for his landscape series and woodblock techniques. Hiroshige came from the Samurai class, and was charged with preventing fires in Edo Castle. This responsibility left him with much leisure time, and at the age of fourteen he started to learn traditional painting, which [...]

This monochrome woodblock print depicts a man prostrate with angels alongside him. Above the man and angels, there is a chariot driven by God. Hiroshi, or Yo, Iwashita was born in 1917, but beyond that little is known about the artist. His woodblock prints are considered highly popular and continue in the long Japanese tradition [...]

The Life of the Virgin represents the apex of the German artist Albrecht Dürer’s career. Originally published as a book, the print shown here is a part of a collection of twenty that depict the life of the virgin.  Dürer completed this series of prints after a tour of Italy, where he was influenced by [...]

Rembrandt is known for creating nearly one hundred self-portraits. He frequently, minorly altered his appearance in his self-portraits. His facial hair, dress, or expression varies widely throughout the studies. These small changes, for Rembrandt, helped him to increase his self-understanding. Here, he depicts himself at a window drawing at his desk. The shading of etching [...]

Maurice Prendergast is considered to be a leading American Post-Impressionist. He is known for his urban landscapes and figures engaged in leisure activities, such as visiting parks and beaches. His training began in Boston before he moved to Paris where he spent three years, and studied at the Académie Julian. After completing school, Prendergast found [...]