Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864

Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864

Honoré Daumier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

To float on the back for an hour in a quiet tributary of the Marne with little water, some water lilies and lots of frogs: that's what makes a man happy!

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864Philosophical contemplations of a lover of silent pleasures, from 'The bathers,' published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, August 6, 1864

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.