American Drawings and Watercolors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art began acquiring American drawings in 1880 and has since amassed a collection of more than 1400 works in watercolour, pastel, ink, graphite, chalk and charcoal. This catalogue, the first volume in a series devoted to the museum's holdings, presents works by artists born before 1835, including such great American artists as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, George Inness and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In his introduction, Kevin Avery describes the acquisitions history of American drawings at the Metropolitan from 1880 to 2002. Marjorie Shelley writes on the materials and techniques used by American draftsmen from the 18th century until about 1875. The catalogue section of the book features 106 of the Museum's choicest drawings and watercolours, discussed in detail and reproduced in colour. A checklist follows of the museum's complete collection of early works on paper, with black-and-white illustrations of 430 additional works and brief artist biographies.