Independence and Identity: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave, 10028, New York City

July 1, 2026 – September 29, 2026

*Independence and Identity* is a rotating installation from The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints, which holds more than a million works on paper and can show them only in limited cycles because of their fragility. Organized in the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery, the selection brings together up to 100 drawings, prints, and illustrated books around themes of autonomy, creativity, and identity. One section focuses on the American Revolution and New York’s role in the struggle for nationhood. Another highlights the artistic freedom and technical innovation of late 19th-century printmakers such as Degas, Cassatt, and Pissarro. The installation also includes works by Joseph Vogel on vision and disability, images of architectural landmarks like Roy Lichtenstein’s Cathedral series, and scenes of rural labor by artists ranging from Van Gogh to Elizabeth Catlett. Together, the works show how prints have explored personal, social, and political forms of independence across time.