Prints and Photographs
The Menil Collection holds some 2,500 graphic works dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Assembled mainly by Dominique de Menil, they represent a broad range of themes and subjects, while also providing insight into differing treatments of the same. Additionally, approximately 1,000 prints from the twentieth century and the art of today mirror the strengths of the museum’s modern and contemporary holdings, including works by Georges Braque, Max Ernst, Jasper Johns, Fernand Léger, Sol Lewitt, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Matthew Ritchie, Fred Sandback, Kiki Smith, James Turrell, and Andy Warhol.
The de Menils assembled a photography collection in keeping with their interests in humanitarian issues. As a result, portraits comprise most of the collection, with many subjects being of a social documentary nature. Landscapes also number in the collection, as do works by the Surrealists. Notable artists in the collection include Eugène Atget, Gertrude Blom, William Christenberry, William Eggleston, Olafur Eliasson, Walker Evans, Gertrude Kasebier, David Levinthal, Danny Lyon, Nadar, Cindy Sherman, Edward Steichen, and Paul Strand. The collection also includes approximately 500 images by Henri Cartier-Bresson, selected for the Menil by the artist himself.
