Drawings and Prints: Selections from The Met Collection

The Robert Wood Johnson, Jr., Gallery displays highlights of European and American prints, drawings, and illustrated books from the Museum's vast holdings of works on paper. Because of their sensitivity to light, these works cannot be on permanent exhibition; each installation remains on view for approximately 13 weeks. The rotations of the gallery consist of diverse pieces—new acquisitions as well as works that might not find their way into a major exhibition. They are selected to show the breadth and quality of the Museum's holdings, ranging from the Renaissance to the present.

Highlights from this rotation include a selection of architectural models from the 16th through the 20th century; representations of childhood in French works on paper from the second half of the 18th century; a selection of prints by 16th-century Italian artists who experimented with printing in color; drawings and prints of mountain landscapes; a group of works on paper that celebrate the bounty of Holland in the early 17th century; prints to which changes have been made by hand; Work Projects Administration (WPA) prints by African-American artists of the 1930s and '40s; and works on paper picturing subway commuters.