Blog
Out of the Box: A Look at the Print and Drawing Cabinet
July 01, 2023
Images (from left to right): Vlucht (Flight) (detail), Ronald Tolman, etching, 1982. 2002.053.1; Aan’t Kruis Men ‘m (Crucify Him) (detail), Frits Gramberg, woodcut, 1961. 2002.032.1; Ochtend (Morning) (detail), Willem Breddels, silkscreen, circa 1965. 2002.037.1; Lost March I (detail), Piet Fioolle, lithograph, 1979. 2002.049.1
When you enter the GVSU Art Gallery’s storage facility, you are greeted with a "u"-shaped alcove of flat file cabinets. Labeled Cabinets A-G, each cabinet has 12 drawers full of prints and works on paper that are part of the Print and Drawing Cabinet (PDC).
This collection of over 2,000 works on paper are some of the most difficult to care for as they can easily fade, rip, tear, or crinkle when on display or handled too often. Because of this, works on paper from the PDC collection are only displayed on campus as part of temporary exhibitions or shared with students and faculty as during in-person collection studies via appointment. Though delicate, the PDC represents a wide range of artworks on paper including drawings, etchings, engravings, monotypes, silkscreens and lithographs.
These four featured prints come from the same donation of over 500 prints created by contemporary Dutch artists, donated by the Brooks Family in honor of Dutch artist, Cyril Lixenberg. All four are currently stored in Cabinet B, Drawer 9 of the PDC and represent the wide range of types of artwork found within the collection.