The Print and Picture Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia (PIX) is home to diverse collections of fine art prints, photographs, drawings, and artists’ books, as well as extensive research collections of Philadelphia images, both historical and modern. The Special Collections of PIX include:
Philadelphiana Collection
The Philadelphiana Collection contains over 20,000 prints, drawings, s
crapbooks, watercolors, and photographs which constitute a picture history of Philadelphia from its founding by William Penn to the present day. Fine Art Prints and Photographs
Spanning the graphic arts from 1493 to the present time, the collection includes thousands of works of art, including prints by Dürer, Rembrandt, Benton Spruance, and Andy Warhol, and photographs by Berenice Abbott, Imogen Cunningham, Ray Metzker, and Eadweard Muybridge. WPA (Work Projects Administration) Collection
The WPA Collection contains about 1,400 prints, drawings and posters created by artists hired by the Federal Government to work in the Philadelphia Graphic Arts Workshop during the Great Depression. Artists’ Books Collection
This is a growing collection of over 400 artists’ books, which are works of art that utilize the form of the book. John Frederick Lewis Portrait Collection
Donated by John Frederick Lewis in 1928, the Portrait Collection contains more than 200,000 portrait prints. Americana Collection
The Americana Collection is composed of over 8,000 prints, photographs and ephemera relating to American history, including Currier & Ives and Audubon. The Joseph Jackson Collection of American Lithographs
275 lithographs from the early history of lithography in America. The Albert Rosenthal Collection of Drawings by American Artists
Containing over 800 drawings by artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the collection is made up of illustrations for magazines, and studies for paintings and larger works. Bonwill, Louis M. Glackens, Edward H. Potthast, John Singleton Copley, and Winslow Homer. Digital Collections
A portion of our collections have been digitized and included in the Free Library’s database of over 40,000 images. We are constantly working on adding more images for public view. Browse or search the library’s digital collections at http://www.freelibrary.org/digital
In addition to the above special collections, PIX houses a large Circulating Picture Collection. Used by artists, students, researchers and the general public, the Circulating Picture Collection includes pictures clipped from books and magazines as well as photographs donated by local newspapers and individuals over the years. Free Library cardholders may check out up to 100 images for a three-week period. The Print & Picture Collection is open for research by appointment only. To make an appointment, please email [email protected]. We welcome visits from school groups and university classes. We offer specialized class visits based upon the strengths of our collections. Instructors are invited to schedule a research visit prior to the class visit, in order to select items they would like the class to see. For more information on educational programs, please email [email protected].
