Prints and Drawings

Prints and Drawings

Fantin-Latour, Henri (1836-1904)

(Print Department) Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) was a French painter and printmaker.  Fantin-Latour’s lithographs are often associated with the growing Symbolist movement of the second half of the 19th century. In particular, he used that medium to explore his interest in the relationship between the visual arts and music. Many of his prints were inspired by the compositions of the contemporary composers Richard Wagner, Robert Schuman, Johannes Brahms, Hector Berlioz, and Gioachino Antonio Rossini. With a few exceptions, Boston Public Library’s collection of nearly 500 prints by Fantin-Latour came in 1949 as a gift of Albert H. Wiggin, who continued to provide new acquisitions to the library’s Print Department after his initial gift of his private collection of prints and drawings in 1941. Digitized images from this collection are available through Digital Commonwealth. 

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (1864-1901) Collection

(Print Department) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was a French painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Although he regularly exhibited paintings and drawings throughout his career, Lautrec is best known for his lithographs and especially his posters, which celebrate the cabarets and the performers active in the Montmartre district of Paris during the 1890s. With a few exceptions, the Boston Public Library’s collection of works by Lautrec was assembled by Albert H. Wiggin and came to the library as part of the 1941 gift by Wiggin of his private collection of prints and drawings. Included are plates from the series Elles and the portfolio Yvette Guilbert. Through Wiggin’s generosity, the library also was able to acquire the pages from an early sketchbook of drawings thought to have been created when Lautrec was in his teens. Online access: Digitized images from this collection are available through Digital Commonwealth. 

Wheeler, Leeds Armstrong Collection

Formed by Wheeler and given by his family in his memory, this collection includes many black and white lithographs and chromolithography from the Boston firm of Armstrong and Company, active from about 1870 to 1900. Included are photographs and memorabilia of Armstrong, and pictures, documents, and notes relating to the Armstrong business, which for a time was the Lithographic Department of the Riverside Press, Cambridge, part of Houghton Mifflin & Co. (Print Department)

A-Z Collections Index