Museum Exhibition

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

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

May 14, 2026 – September 29, 2026

Over 100 works on paper explore independence and identity—from the American Revolution to Degas and WPA prints—in The Met’s rotating Drawings & Prints gallery.

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Exhibition artworks

Representative work

Charles Willson Peale

His Excellency George Washington Esq-r.

ca. 1777

Mezzotint, with hand coloring

sheet including text: 12 11/16 x 9 1/2 in. (32.2 x 24.2 cm)

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Featured works

Nicolas Eustache Maurin

George Washington, First President of the United States

1828

Lithograph

Image: 11 9/16 × 9 5/8 in. (29.3 × 24.5 cm) Sheet: 17 3/4 × 13 9/16 in. (45.1 × 34.4 cm)

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Philip Dawe

The Patriotick Barber of New York, or the Captain in the Suds

February 14, 1775

Mezzotint

plate: 13 7/8 x 10 in. (35.3 x 25.4 cm) sheet: 16 1/2 x 11 9/16 in. (41.9 x 29.3 cm)

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Anonymous, French, 18th century

L'Entré triumphale des Troupes royales a Nouvelle Yorck – Der Einzug der Königlichen Volcker in Neu Yorck [The Triumphal Entry of Royal Troops into New York]

1776–77

Hand-colored etching and engraving

Image: 8 1/4 × 14 3/4 in. (21 × 37.5 cm) Plate: 10 1/16 × 15 1/2 in. (25.5 × 39.3 cm)

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Claude Joseph Sauthier

A Plan of Operations of the King's Army, under the Command of General Sir William Howe, K.B., in New York and East New Jersey, against the American Forces Commanded by General Washington, From the 12th of October, to the 28th of November 1776...

February 25, 1777

Hand-colored etching and engraving

image: 29 1/2 x 19 7/8 in. (74.9 x 50.5 cm) sheet: 30 5/8 x 22 3/4 in. (77.8 x 57.8 cm)

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Robert Pollard

Lady Harriet Acland, Crossing the Hudson River to the American Lines, Presenting Her Safe Conduct

November 15, 1784

Aquatint and etching on chine collé

Plate: 17 5/8 × 22 1/8 in. (44.8 × 56.2 cm) Sheet: 19 1/8 × 25 1/16 in. (48.5 × 63.7 cm)

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Currier & Ives

The Capture of Andre by John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart, at Tarrytown, New York, September 23, 1780

1876

Hand-colored lithograph

Image: 8 3/4 × 12 3/4 in. (22.2 × 32.4 cm) Image and text: 9 7/8 × 12 3/4 in. (25.1 × 32.4 cm) Sheet: 10 3/4 × 14 13/16 in. (27.3 × 37.6 cm)

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30 documented works in this exhibition

View all 30 documented works