Cooper Hewitt’s Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design department, among the world’s foremost repositories of European and American works on paper, holds over 147,000 drawings and prints dating from the Renaissance to the present. Included are designs for architecture, decorative arts, interiors, ornament, jewelry, textiles, graphic and industrial design, and the fine arts. The department’s collection is a vital resource for study, actively supports original research and scholarship, and fosters greater understanding and appreciation of the integral role of works on paper in the history of design and decorative arts up to the present day.

The Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design department welcomes scholars, students, researchers and members of the public to the Drue Heinz Study Center for Drawings and Prints and the Henry Luce Study Room for American Art by appointment.

Image: Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus (Flemish, 1523–1605), Cavemen Hunting Elephants [above]; The King of Persia Hunting [below]. Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash on white laid paper; 21.8 x 15.7 cm (8 9/16 x 6 3/16 in.). Museum purchase through gift of various donors; 1901-39-163. Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.