The Print and Picture Collection

Just down the Parkway from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, at the Free Library of Philadelphia, there lies an excellent collection of fine prints, drawings, and photographs that is far too little known. The Print and Picture Collection at the Free Library is a free resource that is invaluable to artists, students, teachers, collectors and others. It has more than 750,000 images in all mediums and on countless subjects – including fine-art prints, drawings and photographs. The Friends of the Print and Picture Collection was formed in 1996 to support the department by increasing public awareness of the services offered and unique resources available, and by raising funds to support the growth of the Collection and its activities.

Fine Art Collection

Spanning the graphic arts from 1493 to the present time, the collection includes thousands of works of art. Initially representing only Philadelphia artists, the collection has been extended to include early masters as well as renowned modern printmakers and photographers. You can view prints by such artists as Dürer, Rembrandt, Benton Spruance, Dox Thrash, and Andy Warhol. Some of the photographers include Ansel Adams, Bernice Abbott, Ray Metzker, Eadweard Muybridge and Aaron Siskind.

In recent years a small but growing collection of artists' books has been established. The donation of 50 books by a collector who then challenged local book arts community to match her donation has greatly enhanced size and depth of the collection. Artists represented include Johanna Drucker, Susan King, Hedi Kyle, Joan Lyons, Caitlin Perkins, Maddy Rosenberg, Ed Ruscha, Patty Smith, and Susan Viguers.

Philadelphiana and other Reference Collections

The Philadelphiana collection contains some 20,000 prints, drawings and photographs which constitute a picture history of Philadelphia from its founding by William Penn to the present day. Over 200 of the photographs in the collection were published in 1976 by the Department’s curator, Robert F. Looney as a book called Old Philadelphia in Early Photographs 1839-1914. These images have been digitized and can be viewed online. Philadelphiana also includes the largest collection of photographs documenting the 1876 Centennial Exhibition held in Fairmount Park. Thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services these images have been digitized and catalogued and is available online. Other collections of particular interest are the John Frederick Lewis Portrait Collection, the Hampton L. Carson Collection of Napoleonic Prints, the WPA Print Collection, Americana, the Rosenthal Collection of Drawings by American Artists, the Jackson Collection of American Lithographs.

Circulating Picture Collection

Used by artists, students, researchers and the general public, the Circulating Picture Collection includes pictures clipped from books and magazines as well as photographs donated by local newspapers and individuals over the years. The collection is the largest circulating collection of images in the middle-Atlantic states and encompasses myriad subjects and personalities. Pictures may be borrowed by Free Library cardholders.