Studies of a young goat

Studies of a young goat

John Macallan Swan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Swan's paintings and sculptures were firmly based on drawings of this sort. After studying at the Royal Academy, École de Beaux Arts in Paris, and in the studio of Jean-Louis Gérôme, the artist sought instruction in animal anatomy from the sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet. From 1878, he exhibited at the Royal Academy, became an associate in 1894, and a full academician in 1905, and is known for depictions of lions, tigers, jaguars or polar bears that contemporaries praised for their naturalism.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Studies of a young goatStudies of a young goatStudies of a young goatStudies of a young goatStudies of a young goat

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.