Selections of prints, frequently changed, are exhibited in the large gallery devoted to this purpose on the Second Floor. Prints not on exhibition are kept in the Print Study Room on the First Floor, to the left of the entrance. Visitors are welcome. The curator is glad to show any prints not on exhibition and to assist the student in every way possible. Adjoining the Study Room is the Library, where in addition to general reference books deposited by the Minneapolis Athenaeum, there is a valuable reference library on the subject of prints, which formed part of the former Ladd Collection. Students will also find useful a collection which is now being made of photographs and other reproductions of works of art.
It is difficult, of course, to give any adequate idea in so brief a space of the scope of the collection, but the following comments may be of interest. Among the prints by the early masters, of the XV and XVI centuries, there are examples of the work of Martin Schongauer; a large group of 106 engravings and wood-cuts by the great German master, Albrecht Durer; some characteristic prints by the so-called “Little Masters,” Beham, Pencz, and Aldegrever; and a small group of engravings by the XV century Italian master, Andrea Mantegna.
By Rembrandt, the outstanding figure in the graphic arts of the XVII century, we are fortunate in possessing 127 etchings, all of them good and many in brilliant impressions. Other engravers and etchers of the XVII century are well represented. Among the Dutch masters may be instanced Paul Potter, Ruysdael, A. van de Velde; among the French, Callot, Claude Lorrain, and the portrait engravers, Nanteuil, Morin and Masson. The XVII century group is an interesting one. We may note 34 etchings by Piranesi and an important collection of English mezzotints by McArdell, S. D. Reynolds, Earlom, Valentine Green, and others.
As to modern etchers and engravers, the collection presents an embarrassment of riches. The masters of this period are finely represented. There are 34 etchings by Meryon; 103 etchings and lithographs by Whistler, including beautiful impressions of the Venetian and Amsterdam sets; 242 prints by Sir Francis Seymour Haden, a collection particularly interesting for the number of trial proofs and different states which it includes. There is a notable group of 242 etchings by Jacque, including a large number of rare early dry-points; an important collection of Millet’s etchings and woodcuts; 124 prints by Buhot; 119 prints by Legros; 53 prints by Lepere; 156 prints by van Muyden; a characteristic group of lithographs by Fantin Latour; 90 prints by Storm van’s Gravesande, including all his important plates; 32 examples of the work of M. A. J. Bauer. Turner’s famous Liber Studiorum is represented by a nearly complete set, including 24 first states. The collection is rich in the work of contemporary British artists. There are, in addition to the large group of Hadens, 138 prints by Sir Frank Short; 72 prints by the Scotch etcher, D. Y. Cameron; and fine examples of the work of Muirhead Bone, Brangwyn, Strang, and other contemporary artists. Modern German work is represented by an interesting collection of etchings, woodcuts, lithography and color-printing. To conclude this brief summary of the European artists represented in the collection, we may mention the group of 20 etchings by the Swedish painter and etcher, Anders Zorn.