Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.

Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Commodore Curtis sits in an armchair at the head of a table in the cabin of his yacht. Around him, five naval officers in red coats are happily drinking and enjoying themselves. He holds a large two-handled gold cup inscribed "Speedy and Soon." The nine verse song below is a parody of "The Storm" by G.A. Stevens.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.Song by Commodore Curtis. Tune Cease Rude Boreas.

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.