Sir Anthony Van Dyck with a Sunflower

Sir Anthony Van Dyck with a Sunflower

Wenceslaus Hollar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck, head and shoulders in profile to right, with head turned to front; left hand holding chain passing over his right shoulder, right hand pointing to large sunflower on right; after Van Dyck's self-portrait c. 1633, the best version of which is in the collection of the Duke of Westminster.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sir Anthony Van Dyck with a SunflowerSir Anthony Van Dyck with a SunflowerSir Anthony Van Dyck with a SunflowerSir Anthony Van Dyck with a SunflowerSir Anthony Van Dyck with a Sunflower

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.