The Prints and Drawings Study Room
The Prints and Drawings Study Room houses our fine collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, comprising more than 1,000 works and six centuries of the draughtsman’s and printmaker’s arts.
The study room is open to researchers, students and the general public by appointment only.
For research enquires or to make an appointment please email: [email protected]
Please note: the Barber's galleries are closed for a major building improvement project.
We have outstanding drawings in our collection by varied artists such as Tess Jaray, Fra Bartolommeo, Rembrandt van Rijn, JMW Turner, Edgar Degas and Gwen John.
Prints include exceptional works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya, Italian and Flemish Renaissance masters and 19th-century and 20th-century artists from Pablo Picasso and Elizabeth Frink to Käthe Kollwitz.
Many of our prints and drawings can be viewed on our website, or on the University's Online Collections. We are still in the process of digitising our full collection of works on paper, so please bear with us.
A rotating selection of works on paper are displayed in our dedicated Print Bays (located in the Green and Beige galleries) – typically there are six print displays a year.
Explore our prints and drawings online:
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
Thomas Gainsborough A Hilly Landscape London, about 1775-80 Black chalk and stump and white chalk on blue paper 270 x 335 mm Gainsborough rarely made drawings as preparation for a painting and at this date he did not work from nature. Instead, landscape drawings such as this were made as private studio exercises in which … Read more
Claude Mellan (1598-1688)
Claude Mellan Biblia sacra – Frontpiece 1642 Engraving 280 x 230 mm After Nicolas Poussin. Inscribed verso lower right: V. Poliakoff 1920 701, and lower left: 306. Purchased 2005 (No.2005.1)
John Raphael Smith (1752-1812)
John Raphael Smith Dr Richard Robinson, D. D. 1775 Mezzotint 510 x 357 mm This print was made after the painting by Reynolds, which is also in the Barber’s collection. The Englishman Richard Robinson (1709-1794) was made Archbishop of Armagh in 1765, so when this portrait was painted he was Primate of Ireland. He is … Read more
Owen McSwiny (1684-1754)
Owen McSwiny Tombeaux des princes, grands capitaines et autre hommes illustres qui ont fleuri dans la Grande Bretagne 1741 Engraving Paper: 651 x 419 mm; mount: 812 x 608 mm Eight engravings from the series publishes by McSwiny in 1741. Engraved by N. Dorigny, I. Cars, L. Desplaces, N.D. de Beauvais, B. Lepicie and J.P. … Read more
Max Beckmann (1884-1950)
Max Beckmann Self portrait with stylus Frankurt, 1917 Drypoint 47.5 x 33 cm Beckmann depicts himself holding the tool needed to produce such a drypoint print. The use of tense and wiry lines testifies to his derelict state, having been discharged from the German army after suffering a complete mental and physical breakdown, Yet, his … Read more
Walter Sickert (1860-1942)
Walter Sickert La Gaité, Montparnasse Montparnasse, about 1919 Etching and engraving Plate 14.1 x 10.7 cm; mount 15.8 x 11.9 cm Purchased 2016 (No. 2016.6) Bequeathed by Charles Branchini through the Art Fund
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres La belle Ferronnière Paris, about 1802-6 Black chalk, stump and wash on paper Paper: 525 x 418 mm; mount: 785 x 575 mm This drawing is a copy of a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in the Louvre, Paris. It was thought to represent a mistress of Francis I; legend stated … Read more
Jan Lievens (1607-1674)
Jan Lievens Jacques Gaultier, lutenist Etching Paper 265 x 220 mm; mount 557 x 405 mm Jacques Gaultier (about 1600-1652) was a successful lute-player and composer at the court of Charles I of England (reigned 1625-49). Gaultier’s lute has a split peg-box to accommodate additional strings, increasing the range of the instrument. The lute was … Read more
Aegidius Sadeler II (1570-1629)
Aegidius Sadeler II Daedalus & Icarus Etching 234 x 304 mm In a scene based on the classical story of Daedalus and Icarus and their escape from Crete, Daedalus gestures with despair as his son Icarus falls from the sky. The ploughman looks up while the seated peasants laugh and point. This story was often … Read more
David Cox (1783-1859)
David Cox Farmer on Horseback Passing a Windmill England or Wales, probably 1810-50 Watercolour 28.3 x 40 cm Birds circle the calm skies as a farmer slowly rides his horse past a windmill. The low horizon and large sky is typical of Cox’s preoccupation with depicting changeable weather and atmosphere. He returned to the theme … Read more
Fra Bartolommeo (1472-1517)
Fra Bartolommeo The Madonna and Child with Saints (recto); Two Figures (verso) Florence, about 1509 Black and yellow chalk heightened on white tinted paper 260 x 196 mm On the recto of this sheet there is a preparatory drawing for Fra Bartolommeo’s altarpiece in the church of San Marco in Florence. The altarpiece was painted … Read more
John Leech (1817-1864)
John Leech Hunting Incidents of ‘The Noble Science’: A Capital Finish, Plate 10 1865 Lithograph 445 x 595 mm Purchased 1944 (No.44.6/8)
Walter Sickert (1860-1942)
Walter Sicke Dieppe, Quai Henri IV Dieppe, 1915 Etching Plate: 19.5 x 13 cm; mount 21.4 x 14.7 cm Female singer at Café Vernet, Dieppe. Published by Carfax & Co. Purchased 2016 (No. 2016.5) Bequeathed by Charles Branchini through the Art Fund
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Villa d’Este, Tivoli Rome, 1773 Etching This engraving is from a series entitled Views of Rome. In this etching, Piranesi depicted the impressive gardens of the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, originally built for Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (1509-1572). The inclusion of tiny figures on the steps emphasises the scale of the … Read more
Jean Moyreau (1690-1762)
Jean Moyreau La collation Paris, 1720s Engraving 457 x 334 mm This print reproduces a painting by Watteau, one of the most successful painters in Paris during the early 18th century. Watteau pioneered a new category of painting known as ‘fêtes galantes’ that depicted the idle pursuits of the aristocracy. Such scenes were produced in … Read more
John Leech (1817-1864)
John Leech Hunting Incidents of ‘The Noble Science’: Don’t Move There, Plate 1 1865 Lithograph 445 x 595 mm Purchased 1944 (No.44.6/1)
Owen McSwiny (1684-1754)
Owen McSwiny Tombeaux des princes, grands capitaines et autre hommes illustres qui ont fleuri dans la Grande Bretagne 1741 Engraving Paper: 650 x 424 mm; mount: 812 x 608 mm Eight engravings from the series publishes by McSwiny in 1741. Engraved by N. Dorigny, I. Cars, L. Desplaces, N.D. de Beauvais, B. Lepicie and J.P. … Read more
Stefano della Bella (1610-1664)
Stefano della Bella Les cinqs morts – Death holding a child Italy, 1648 Etching with engraving 191 x 153 mm Purchased 1954 (No.55.5/2)
The Prints and Drawing Study Room was created with the financial support of the DCMS/Wolfson Museums Improvement Fund.