Psst, Here's Where to See the Really Smokin' Prints.....

You know, every once in a while the chance to go see some art in a really great museum comes along, and how often do we actually go? Personally speaking, Not as much as I would like. Sooooo, in an effort to encourage my fellow inked up brethren and sisters to go see some mighty, mighty fine prints, here is a list of the top 22 institutions (western world) whose collections kick collective butt. I am a bit surprised to see that the US only registers 5 out of the group, but hey, there are a few places on the list any printmaker would be pleased to make a pilgrimage to see some dry ink on old paper. So collect the kiddies, students, and colleagues and bypass that over-hyped and over-rated show in Venice this summer and go visit France, UK, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and Germany. You'll be glad you did.:)

British Museum, London, UK
50,000 drawings, 2 million prints
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US
15,000 drawings, 1.5 million prints
Albertina, Vienna, Austria
50,000 drawings, 1 million prints
Excludes 25,000 architectural drawings
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, Germany
110,000 drawings, 500,000 prints
State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
39,000 drawings, 486,000 prints
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
2,000 drawings, 500,000 prints
Excludes 600,000 architectural drawings, 100,000 design drawings and 10,000 British drawings
National Gallery in Prague, Collection of Prints and Drawings, Prague, Czech Republic
60,000 drawings, 400,000 prints
Cabinet des Estampes et des Dessins, Strasbourg, France
200,000 prints and drawings
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
20,000 drawings, 180,000 prints
Royal Collection, London, UK
40,000 drawings, 150,000 prints
Including 600 drawings by Leonardo da Vinci
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
140,500 drawings, 43,000 prints
The main print collection is at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, US
150,000 drawings and prints
Uffizi, Florence, Italy
120,000 drawings and prints
Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris, France
100,000 prints
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, US
11,500 drawings, 60,000 prints
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France
10, 500 drawings, 60 0000 prints
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, France
10,000 drawings, 50,000 prints
Museum of Modern Art, New York, US
6,000 drawings, 50,000 prints
Includes more than 4,000 Old Master drawings and excludes over 10,000 architectural drawings
Brooklyn Museum, New York, US
2,000 drawings, 40,000 prints
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
9000 drawings and prints
Zelandia Illustrata, Amsterdam, Netherlands
18,000 maps, prints, drawings, photographs, glass negatives, slides and postcards