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 [pg 5] 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.

This is a fine impression of the second state of Rembrandt's masterpiece known as The Hundred Guilder Print, so-called because it is supposed to have brought that price—a high one for the period—in Rembrandt's own time. Rembrandt is not only the greatest artist of the Dutch school, but also the greatest master of etching the world has ever known.

The art of mezzotint engraving attained its highest development in England during the XVIII century. The English portrait painters were quick to recognize that the mezzotint process with its delicacy of tone and beautiful, velvety quality was admirably suited to the reproduction of their works. Reynolds is said to have employed, under his supervision, one hundred mezzotint engravers in the reproduction of his portraits. English mezzotints are well represented in our collection.

The subject of this large etching is the breaking up of one of England's famous old ships of war, called the Agamemnon. Haden was not only a surgeon eminent in his profession, but also one of the greatest of English etchers. The revival of interest in etching during the XIX century in England was largely due to his efforts. Characteristic works of Whistler and Meryon are illustrated below.

Our print collection is notably rich in the work of Millet. The etchings are all fine impressions, in some cases exceptional in quality. The collection also includes Millet's lithograph, The Sower, and his rare heliogravure, Maternal Precaution. Of the six wood-engravings drawn by Millet and cut by his brothers, three are represented in the collection.

Millet was a thoughtful artist, to whom the spirit of things was at least as important as their visual aspect. His deep and sincere sympathy with the life of the peasant, to whose class he himself belonged, determined to a large extent his choice of subject. But Millet never descended to anecdotal trivialities; he avoided the pale sentimentality of such a painter as Jules Breton. His thought, like his technique, was virile, positive, honest. Millet was far above any trickery, either of thought or of execution.

The very intensity of his intellectual interests led Millet to evolve a personal style that is distinguished by its simplicity and directness. As an artist, Millet is more allied to Durer than to Rubens. Color plays but a small part in his pictures. Significant, expressive line is the first essential of his art, and with this simple means he secures a surprising effect of plastic form. When color is added to outline, he is primarily interested in establishing accurately the values of the different planes. Both in his use of line and of mass, it is Millet's invariable practice to simplify, omitting everything that is not essential to his purpose.