
Prints
Printmaking has played a key role in spreading artistic styles, scientific diagrams, and ideas around the world. A printmaker first creates a design on a matrix—a surface often made of metal, wood, or stone. They then apply ink and press paper or fabric to the matrix, transferring the design. This process can be repeated, creating multiple works.
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Article: Who Is Elizabeth Catlett? 12 Things to Know
Meet a groundbreaking artist who made sculptures and prints for her people.

Video: Print Like a Great: Elizabeth Catlett
What happens when legacy, artistry, and womanhood collide? LaToya Hobbs creates a stunning woodcut portrait of Naima Mora, inspired by the life and work of legendary printmaker Elizabeth Catlett—Naima’s own grandmother.

Video: Master Printmaker LaToya Hobbs Creates a Woodblock Print Inspired by Elizabeth Catlett
Master printmaker LaToya Hobbs creates a woodblock print portrait of Naima Mora, referencing the sculpture Naima created by Elizabeth Catlett.

Video: Is Art for Pleasure or for Politics?
Art historian Rashieda Witter discusses Washington, D.C.-based Black artists throughout history whose work challenged our ideas of what art can be.

Article: Who Is Marisol? 7 Things to Know
The Venezuelan American artist was wildly famous in the 1960s and ’70s for sculptures that have many sources, but defy categories.

Article: Church Supper: Eating, Drinking, and Building Community
A print by Frank Hartley Anderson reminds chef Adrienne Cheatham of the church meals she grew up with—and of a recipe for buttered rolls.

Article: Ruth Asawa’s Little-Known Experiment with Printmaking
Memorialized in stamps for her wire sculptures, the artist’s experiments with printmaking have been largely forgotten.

Article: Eldzier Cortor Takes Us Inside the Slaughterhouse
Through his surrealist woodcut, Cortor considers the relationship between humans and animals and tells the stories of Black bodies.

Article: Enjoy a Poem Inspired by Emien Etting’s “Flying Fruit”
Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil sees a love story in this print by American artist Emien Etting.

Video: Science and Paper: Conserving a Drypoint by Michael Heizer
This video covers the conservation process for Michael Heizer's Scrap Metal Drypoint #6, developed by conservators, curators, and the artist himself.

Video: The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850–1900
Peter Parshall, the National Gallery's Curator of Old Master Prints, talks about the works in the exhibition The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850–1900.
Because drawings are damaged with exposure to light, we are unable to keep them on permanent display. Anyone can make an appointment to see prints in our collection, however, by contacting our study rooms.
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Drawing
Nearly every artist makes drawings at some point. Some use them as a way of thinking, jotting ideas down as quickly as they occur. Such rough sketches can offer fascinating glimpses into the artist’s imagination or their process. Meanwhile, many artists make elaborate drawings as finished works.

Comics
Did you know that we have comics in our collection? Discover artists who have both been inspired by, and created, these graphic stories.