William BLAKE<br/> <em>Dante running from the Three Beasts</em> (1824-1827) <!-- (recto) --><br /> illustration for <i>The Divine Comedy</i> by Dante Alighieri (<i>Inferno</i> I, 1-90)<br /> pen and ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk<br /> 37.3 x 52.8 cm (image and sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1920<br /> 988-3<br /> <!--26892-->
William BLAKE
Dante running from the Three Beasts (1824-1827)
illustration for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Inferno I, 1-90)
pen and ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk
37.3 x 52.8 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1920
988-3
Collection

Prints & Drawings

The Prints and Drawings collection encompasses international and Australian drawings, watercolours, prints, posters, artists’ books and sketchbooks. The international collection comprehensively represents the history of paper-based media from the fifteenth century to the present day, while the Australian collection charts the development of the graphic arts from the colonial period to the present.

Curators

Cathy Leahy
Senior Curator, Prints and Drawings

Petra Kayser
Curator, Prints and Drawings

Eva Christoff
Curatorial Project Officer, Prints and Drawings

Subscribe to NGV eNews

Subscribe

Collection Highlights

Albrecht DÜRER<br/> <em>Melencolia I</em> 1514 <!-- (recto) --><br /> engraving<br /> 23.9 x 18.7 cm (image) 24.1 x 18.7 cm (sheet)<br /> 1st state<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1956<br /> 3486-4<br /> <!--43335--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/43335"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Albrecht DÜRER
Melencolia I
 1514 Andrea del SARTO<br/> <em>Study for St John the Baptist</em> (c. 1517) <!-- (recto) --><br /> red chalk<br /> 38.5 x 18.8 cm irreg. (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1936<br /> 351-4<br /> <!--38858--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/38858"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Andrea del SARTO
Study for St John the Baptist
 (c. 1517) François BOUCHER<br/> <em>Madame de Pompadour</em> 1754 <!-- (recto) --><br /> pastel over sanguine and light grey-blue washes<br /> 36.5 x 28.1 cm (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1965<br /> 1482-5<br /> <!--24134--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/24134"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> François BOUCHER
Madame de Pompadour
 1754 Francisco GOYA y Lucientes<br/> <em>The sleep of reason produces monsters</em> (1797-1798) <!-- (recto) --><br /> <em>(El sueño de la razón produce monstruos)</em><br /> plate 43 from <i>Los Caprichos (The Caprices)</i> series (1797–98), published 1799<br /> etching and aquatint printed in sepia ink<br /> 18.3 x 12.2 cm (image) 21.5 x 15.1 cm (plate) 24.2 x 16.7 cm (sheet)<br /> 1st edition<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1976<br /> P1.43-1976<br /> <!--25122--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/25122"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Francisco GOYA y Lucientes
The sleep of reason produces monsters
(El sueño de la razón produce monstruos)
 (1797-1798)
plate 43 from Los Caprichos (The Caprices) series (1797–98), published 1799 William BLAKE<br/> <em>Antaeus setting down Dante and Virgil in the Last Circle of Hell</em> (1824-1827) <!-- (recto) --><br /> illustration for <i>The Divine Comedy</i> by Dante Alighieri (<i>Inferno</i> XXXI, 112-143)<br /> pen and ink and watercolour over pencil and black chalk, with sponging and scratching out<br /> 52.6 x 37.4 cm (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1920<br /> 1012-3<br /> <!--26885--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/26885"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> William BLAKE
Antaeus setting down Dante and Virgil in the Last Circle of Hell
 (1824-1827)
illustration for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Inferno XXXI, 112-143) J. M. W. TURNER<br/> <em>The Red Rigi</em> 1842 <!-- (recto) --><br /> watercolour, wash and gouache with some scratching out<br /> 30.5 x 45.8 cm (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1947<br /> 1704-4<br /> <!--27796--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/27796"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> J. M. W. TURNER
The Red Rigi
 1842 Edvard MUNCH<br/> <em>Towards the forest II</em> (1915) <!-- (recto) --><br /> <em>(Mot skogen II)</em><br /> colour woodcut<br /> 50.6 x 64.8 cm (image) 55.0 x 68.0 cm (sheet)<br /> 3rd of 3 states<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1974<br /> P152-1974<br /> <!--25016--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/25016"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Edvard MUNCH
Towards the forest II
(Mot skogen II)
 (1915) Pablo PICASSO<br/> <em>Portrait of a young woman, after Cranach the Younger, II</em> 1958 <!-- (recto) --><br /> <em>(Portrait de Jeune Fille, d'après Cranach le Jeune, II)</em><br /> colour linocut<br /> 64.4 x 53.4 cm (block) 76.9 x 57.5 cm (sheet)<br /> printer's proof<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1996<br /> 1996.598<br /> © Pablo Picasso/Sussession Pablo Picasso. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--59139--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/59139"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Pablo PICASSO
Portrait of a young woman, after Cranach the Younger, II
(Portrait de Jeune Fille, d'après Cranach le Jeune, II)
 1958 THE SYDNEY BIRD PAINTER<br/> <em>Boobook owl</em> (c. 1790-1800) <!-- (recto) --><br /> watercolour and pen and ink over pencil<br /> 47.9 x 29.8 cm irreg. (sheet)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> The Warren Clark Bequest, 1999<br /> 1999.325<br /> <!--66317--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/66317"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> THE SYDNEY BIRD PAINTER
Boobook owl
 (c. 1790-1800) Conrad MARTENS<br/> <em>View from Sandy Bay</em> 1836 <!-- (recto) --><br /> watercolour and scratching out over traces of pencil<br /> (46.1 x 66.4 cm) (image)<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1950<br /> 2230-4<br /> <!--27455--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/27455"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Conrad MARTENS
View from Sandy Bay
 1836 Margaret PRESTON<br/> <em>Wheelflower</em> (c. 1929) <!-- (recto) --><br /> hand-coloured woodcut on brown hand-made paper<br /> 44.2 x 44.7 cm irreg. (block) 48.4 x 47.1 cm irreg. (sheet)<br /> proof<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1979<br /> P10-1979<br /> © Margaret Preston/Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia <!--25423--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/25423"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Margaret PRESTON
Wheelflower
 (c. 1929) Mike PARR<br/> <em>(ALPHABET/HAEMORRHAGE) Black Box of 100 Self Portrait Etchings 2</em> (1992) <!-- (recto) --><br /> set of 100 etchings, with foul biting, drypoint, softground, roulette, deep etching, open biting and plate-tone, wood and enamel paint (box)<br /> (a-vvvv) 28.6 x 24.2 cm (image and sheet) (each) (wwww) 7.4 x 27.8 x 31.8 cm (box)<br /> unique state<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1994<br /> P29.a-wwww-1994<br /> © Courtesy of the artist <!--35209--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/35209"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Mike PARR
(ALPHABET/HAEMORRHAGE) Black Box of 100 Self Portrait Etchings 2
 (1992) Bea MADDOCK<br/> <em>TERRA SPIRITUS ... with a darker shade of pale</em> 1993-1998 <!-- (recto) --><br /> hand-ground ochre and blind letterpress on 52 sheets<br /> (a-zz) 26.5 x 76.0 cm (image and sheet) (each)<br /> ed. 3/5<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1999<br /> 1999.190.a-zz<br /> © Courtesy of the artist <!--66109--><br/><a class="col-link block" href="/explore/collection/work/66109"><strong>Collection page <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i></strong></a> Bea MADDOCK
TERRA SPIRITUS ... with a darker shade of pale
 1993-1998 Jess JOHNSON<br/> born New Zealand 1979, arrived Australia 2002<br/> <em>We want to live</em><br/> from <em>Outer head of the order (Vestibule incarnate)</em> 2013<br/> pen and ink, coloured fibre-tipped pens, metallic paint and collage on paper, synthetic polymer paint on composition board, architectural moulding, wood frames, hanging light, pot, resin sculpture<br/> 120 x 90.5 cm each (framed) dimensions (variable) (installation)<br/> Collection of the artist<br/> Supported by The John McCaughey Memorial Prize Trust<br/> © Jess Johnson courtesy of Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; and Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland<br/>
Jess JOHNSON
born New Zealand 1979, arrived Australia 2002
We want to live
from Outer head of the order (Vestibule incarnate) 2013
pen and ink, coloured fibre-tipped pens, metallic paint and collage on paper, synthetic polymer paint on composition board, architectural moulding, wood frames, hanging light, pot, resin sculpture
120 x 90.5 cm each (framed) dimensions (variable) (installation)
Collection of the artist
Supported by The John McCaughey Memorial Prize Trust
© Jess Johnson courtesy of Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; and Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland

Watch

Goya | Exhibition Introduction Drawings from the Prado Museum Helen Maudsley’s Artistic lady With NGV Curator Creating Characters Leigh Hobbs Making something out of nothing Alison Lester Making books – a love of language and art Ron Brooks The Life of an Illustrator Ron Brooks, Alison Lester, Leigh Hobbs and Shaun Tan Comedy is sublime David Shrigley

Read

Rembrandt’s watermarked papers at the National Gallery of Victoria

Bonnie Hearn

 From Cologne to Melbourne: The watermark collection of Canon Ludwig von Büllingen

Louise Wilson

 Goya’s Visions

Dr Petra Kayser

 Bushfire Brandalism Posters

Jessica Cole

 We Change the World

Elisha Buttler and Michele Stockley

 The home front

Kate Darian-Smith

 Prisoners and internees

Dr Petra Kayser

 Selling Suffrage: Visual culture and merchandise

Zoë Thomas
eBook: Impossible Monsters

In this comprehensive eBook, Ruth Shervington, Senior conservator of paper, and Louise Wilson, Conservator of paper, explore Goya’s etching techniques and materials.

Read now

Art Journal

Richard Estes Urban landscapes I

Cathy Leahy

 Interpreting Shunga scroll: sex and desire between women in Edo’s ‘floating world’

Annika Aitken

 Making sense of nonsense: pseudo-script on an Italian Renaissance maiolica dish

Matthew Martin

 Away with the fairies. Edwin Landseer’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania and Bottom, 1848–1851

Dr Ted Gott