The Print Department occupies two rooms on the Main Floor (Print Study
Room and Library) and a large exhibition gallery on the Second Floor. The
collection, comprising over 5,000 prints, was the munificent gift to the
Society in 1916 of an anonymous donor. The collection, formerly owned by
William M. Ladd of Portland, Oregon, represents the work of years in
collecting, and illustrates in a comprehensive way the history of the
graphic arts. The strength of the collection lies in its splendid
representation of the work of XIX century and modern etchers. In this
respect it may be said to be second only to the famous Avery Collection in
New York. The collection offers an exceptional opportunity for the study
and enjoyment of a branch of art that is intimately related to drawing and
painting and yet has distinctive qualities of its own.
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.
Coming to the work of American etchers, we find a large group of prints by
Joseph Pennell, including his Panama Canal lithographs; the complete work
of D. Shaw MacLaughlan, down to about 1912; the almost complete work of
Charles Platt; 55 prints by Stephen Parrish; and a representative group of
dry-points by Mary Cassatt.
[Christ Healing the Sick, Etching, Rembrandt, 1607-1669]