Prints have been an integral part of the Museum since its inception in 1929, with eight prints being among the very first works to enter the collection. Today, the department's holdings have grown to include more than 53,000 works dating from the 1880s to the present, forming the most comprehensive collection of modern and contemporary prints and illustrated books in the world. While traditional techniques such as woodcut, etching, lithography, and screenprint form the core of the collection, newer digital processes, multiples, and artist's books are also collected in breadth and depth. The important role of printmaking in artists' creative process is reflected in the inclusion of numerous states and working proofs, comprising one of the unique strengths of the collection.

The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Print Room

Online Exhibitions and Projects

• What is a Print?
• Paris—The 1890s
• Beyond the Visible: The Art of Odilon Redon
• Artists of Brücke
• Kirchner and the Berlin Street
• The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910–1934
• Miró's Black and Red Series: A New Acquisition in Context
• Repicturing the Past/Picturing the Present
• Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities
• Geo/Metric: Prints and Drawings from the Collection
• Eye on Europe: Prints, Books & Multiples/1960 to Now
• Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings
• Focus: Jasper Johns
• Collaborations with Parkett: 1984 to Now
• Book/Shelf
• Artistic Collaborations: 50 Years at Universal Limited Art Editions
• Peter Halley: Exploding Cell
• New Concepts in Printmaking 2: Willie Cole
• Kiki Smith: Prints, Books, and Things