Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia

Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia's unique collection of fine art prints, photos, drawings, artists' Artists in the collection include Eastman Johnson, C. E. H.

The Print and Picture Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia (PIX) is home to diverse collections of fine art prints, photographs, drawings, and artists’ books, as well as extensive research collections of Philadelphia images, both historical and modern. The Special Collections of PIX include:

Philadelphiana Collection
The Philadelphiana Collection contains over 20,000 prints, drawings, s

crapbooks, watercolors, and photographs which constitute a picture history of Philadelphia from its founding by William Penn to the present day. Fine Art Prints and Photographs
Spanning the graphic arts from 1493 to the present time, the collection includes thousands of works of art, including prints by Dürer, Rembrandt, Benton Spruance, and Andy Warhol, and photographs by Berenice Abbott, Imogen Cunningham, Ray Metzker, and Eadweard Muybridge. WPA (Work Projects Administration) Collection
The WPA Collection contains about 1,400 prints, drawings and posters created by artists hired by the Federal Government to work in the Philadelphia Graphic Arts Workshop during the Great Depression. Artists’ Books Collection
This is a growing collection of over 400 artists’ books, which are works of art that utilize the form of the book. John Frederick Lewis Portrait Collection
Donated by John Frederick Lewis in 1928, the Portrait Collection contains more than 200,000 portrait prints. Americana Collection
The Americana Collection is composed of over 8,000 prints, photographs and ephemera relating to American history, including Currier & Ives and Audubon. The Joseph Jackson Collection of American Lithographs
275 lithographs from the early history of lithography in America. The Albert Rosenthal Collection of Drawings by American Artists
Containing over 800 drawings by artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the collection is made up of illustrations for magazines, and studies for paintings and larger works. Bonwill, Louis M. Glackens, Edward H. Potthast, John Singleton Copley, and Winslow Homer. Digital Collections
A portion of our collections have been digitized and included in the Free Library’s database of over 40,000 images. We are constantly working on adding more images for public view. Browse or search the library’s digital collections at http://www.freelibrary.org/digital


In addition to the above special collections, PIX houses a large Circulating Picture Collection. Used by artists, students, researchers and the general public, the Circulating Picture Collection includes pictures clipped from books and magazines as well as photographs donated by local newspapers and individuals over the years. Free Library cardholders may check out up to 100 images for a three-week period. The Print & Picture Collection is open for research by appointment only. To make an appointment, please email [email protected]. We welcome visits from school groups and university classes. We offer specialized class visits based upon the strengths of our collections. Instructors are invited to schedule a research visit prior to the class visit, in order to select items they would like the class to see. For more information on educational programs, please email [email protected].

Favorite Print of the Day!Tomoe Yokoi“Fly and Leaf”Hand Colored Mezzotint, 1974
08/04/2026

Favorite Print of the Day!
Tomoe Yokoi
“Fly and Leaf”
Hand Colored Mezzotint, 1974

Come visit us tomorrow for our monthly third Thursday open house in the print and picture collection from 2:00pm to 3:00...
07/15/2026

Come visit us tomorrow for our monthly third Thursday open house in the print and picture collection from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. No registration required.

We will be showing off our WPA Collection.

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/event/170829
07/15/2026

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/event/170829

Celebrate Americas 250th by making your own poster of Independence Hall! Stop by the lobby of Parkway Central Library between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. for a free hands-on screen printing workshop. All ages welcome and no experience required. A teaching artist from Posters for the People will guide yo...

Come visit us on the 2nd Floor today from 11:00am to noon to celebrate Pride month. We brought out all the heavy hitters...
06/18/2026

Come visit us on the 2nd Floor today from 11:00am to noon to celebrate Pride month. We brought out all the heavy hitters for you to view: Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana, Minor White, and Divine! Very special to us is work by the recently departed Duane Michaels and David Hockey.

05/10/2026

On this day in 1876, the Centennial Exposition held its opening day ceremonies right here in Philadelphia!

To commemorate the event, Highmark Mann has commissioned A Hundred Years On, a new oratorio by composer Peter Boyer and librettist Mark Campbell. This exciting world premiere on June 17 will be conducted by Anthony Parnther, directed by Tazewell Thompson, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Crossing. Tickets start at just $18.76!

Major support for this program is provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support provided by America250PA, National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, and Wyncote Foundation.

Special thanks to Free Library of Philadelphia and Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia.

Spring organizing in the Print and Picture Collection continues! Today we bring you Risograph prints by Tanya Brassi cre...
03/25/2026

Spring organizing in the Print and Picture Collection continues! Today we bring you Risograph prints by Tanya Brassi creator of Innner Loop press.

"Inner loop press is a risograph printing press operated by Tanya Brassie in Philadelphia, PA. It primarily publishes educational zines on topics related to the environment, technology and society, as well as posters and lighter fair!"

Support Protected Bike Lanes!

Learning Poster

Naughty Book

We are rehousing our artist print collection for easier access and updating our spreadsheets with acquisitions from the ...
03/24/2026

We are rehousing our artist print collection for easier access and updating our spreadsheets with acquisitions from the last few years. These three linoleum prints by Philadelphia artist Alice Austin are a few of our favorites.

Allium over Broad and 15th St.

One Turtle Three Ferns, 2024

Three Herons Flying over Penn Treaty Park

All three are Linoleum print over map, 2024

printPHILLY! is tomorrow 2/28 at Parkway Central Library!
02/27/2026

printPHILLY! is tomorrow 2/28 at Parkway Central Library!

Email from Free Library of Philadelphia   printPHILLY! is Saturday February 28! The Philadelphia Print Consortium and the Free Library of Philadelphia are pleased to announce the Fourth Annual printPH

Join us in the Field Teen Center for silk screening - rescheduled for Monday March 2nd and Wednesday March 4th!
02/25/2026

Join us in the Field Teen Center for silk screening - rescheduled for Monday March 2nd and Wednesday March 4th!

The Philadelphia Print Consortium and the Free Library of Philadelphia are pleased to announce the fourth annual printPH...
02/13/2026

The Philadelphia Print Consortium and the Free Library of Philadelphia are pleased to announce the fourth annual printPHILLY! print fair, free and open to the public at Parkway Central Library on Saturday, February 28, 2026 from 10 AM to 4 PM.

This event focuses on printmaking as a vital, contemporary art medium, as well as one of historic significance to the city of Philadelphia. Participants include over 40 individual artists, print shops, collectives, and non-profit spaces.
Special events during printPHILLY! Include:

11 AM: printPHILLY! Lecture — Join Dr. Heather Hughes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints, for a lecture about the PMA’s upcoming exhibition about the prints of Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui. This event takes place in room 131/132, Heim Center, at 11 AM.

12 PM - 3 PM: Letterpress Make & Take —Anytime between 12 and 3, join artist Belle Handler to make your own print on the first floor of Parkway Central Library.

The fair is hosted by the Philadelphia Print Consortium with support from the Free Library of Philadelphia, The Soapbox: Community Print Shop & Zine Library, and American Color Print Society.
Visit printphilly.org for more information, and follow the Philadelphia Print Consortium on Instagram.
Image 1: printPHILLY! Poster
Image 2: Dr. Heather Hughes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Museum’s Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints
Image 3: El Anatsui, In the Water, Color woodcut published by Brandywine Workshop, 2022
Image 4: Letterpress Make.& Take with Belle Handler
Images 5-8: Images from printPHILLY! 2025

We hope to see you at printPHILLY! at Parkway Central Library, on February 28, 2026, 10 AM - 4 PM

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1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA
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