Society of American Graphic Artists

Print Collection of The New York Public Library

Resources

Roberta Waddell

 

The following article first appeared in SAGAzine volume 1, no. 1, Summer 2003

Resources: Print Collection of The New York Public Library

by Roberta Waddell
The first public Print Room in New York, the Print Collection of The New York Public Library was established in 1900 after paintings dealer and avid print collector Samuel Putnam Avery offered his collection of some 18,000 prints to the Library's trustees. His choice of the Library as the home for his collection was based on his belief that "great libraries, like ... The New York Public Library, possess the best facilities to accommodate readers and students." His conviction has continued to guide the Print Collection's mission, first at the Lenox Library, and in 1911 in its present home in the center for Humanities and Social Sciences on Fifth Avenue & 42nd Street. Carrere and Hastings, the architects of that beaux-arts building, allocated the Print Collection two rooms on the south east corner of the third floor and provided grand public tables, wider than the "standard issue," for viewing prints.
Avery's gift, primarily 19th-century prints, favored French artists, but during his annual buying pilgrimages in Europe, and through an American agent living in Paris, he also acquired prints by German, Dutch, British, and American artists living abroad. In his virtual compendium of 19th century European printmaking he acquired not only prints by Manet, Rousseau, Corot, Millet, Bresdin, Pissarro, Cassatt, and Whistler, but also by lesser-known contemporaries, like Mauve, Chifflart and Chaigneau, and by skilled reproductive printmakers, highly valued in Avery's day.
Avery's gift joined prints already in the Lenox Library, including Samuel J. Tilden's British political print collection with major holdings of James Gillray, a bequest which set the stage for the Library's ongoing interest in political prints. Avery's example appears to have inspired other benefactors, among them a New York dry goods merchant, Charles Stewart Smith, whose gift in 1901 of nearly 1800 ukiyo-e prints formed the basis of a collection that has grown to include later 19th and 20th-century Japanese prints.
Artists were also generous to the fledgling Print Room: John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, "Pop" Hart, and Edward Hopper, presented their work to the Library, gifts welcomed by Frank Weitenkampf, Curator from 1900 to 1942, who, through purchases, gifts and bequests assembled a rich survey of American prints. Subsequent curators have maintained his commitment to American prints and, following Avery's example, to contemporary art. The Library's strong holdings of 20th-century American prints were also enriched by major gifts of American historical prints: The Phelps Stokes Collection, which traces the growth of America from the period of discovery through the end of the 19th century, and the Eno Collection of New York City Views.
Early in the century Weitenkampf, aware that the collection was strong in contemporary work, but had few Old Master prints, raised funds to address that gap. Entries for prints by Rubens, Dürer, van Dyck, Aldegrever, Mantegna appear in the accession books in 1909, and subsequent curators have continued to selectively fill in and strengthen the collection of Old Master prints to trace the history of printmaking.
Over the course of the century, the collections have grown to more than 180,000 prints and 7,500 illustrated and artists' books. Many specialized collections were added over the years: a major collection of lithographs given by Joseph Pennell (complementing rich holdings of early lithography in Avery's Collection); Charles McAlpin Collection of Washington Portraiture; major gifts of prints by Martin Lewis and Reginald Marsh. Until the year the burgeoning portfolios were housed in the same two rooms, originally assigned the Print Collection in 1911. Stored there, also, was a remarkably comprehensive reference collection on the history of prints and printmakers, illustrated books, and technique books, and additional files on artists, print organizations, print publishers, dealers, and printmaking processes.
All these readily consulted and retrieved resources allowed the curatorial staff, in Avery's words, to successfully "accommodate readers and students." However, after nearly 100 years of growth, lack of storage and other space constraints had become critical. Between May and December 2001, the Study Room was renovated, reopening on January 2, 2002, with new and expanded storage areas and a reconfigured Study Room. The handsome original public tables have been refinished and refitted with an infrastructure for electronic resources. New lighting, which leaves the tables unencumbered, invites the study of works of art on paper. Readers can consult the Library's only catalogue, along with other networked research tools. Maintaining the tradition of readily accommodating the public, the collection is once again accessible without appointment to anyone who has an interest in prints. A card of admission, easily acquired through the Office of Special Collections in Room 316, is required before ringing the Study Room doorbell at Room 308, from Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00-5:45.
Date of Publication: June 1, 2003

This article has not been published previously.

All rights of copyright are retained by Roberta Waddell. Reproduction or publication is forbidden without the written consent of the author.
 
Roberta Waddel is Curator of Prints at the New York Public Library.
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