New York’s Morgan Library & Museum announced that it will begin digitizing its renowned collection of master drawings next month. The goal is to create a digital library of over 10,000 images, representing drawings spanning the 14th to 21st centuries. The images will be free of charge through the Morgan’s website. The project is slated to reach completion within one year.
The images will be available for download for use in classroom presentations, dissertations and educational websites devoted to the fine arts. Each image will be linked to a corresponding catalogue record detailing the scholarly information related to each drawing. 2,000 of the drawings will include images of versos, which will show inscriptions by the artist.
William M. Griswold, director of the Morgan Library & Museum, said, “This project will provide access to the full range of the collection and is critical to our institutional goal of promoting drawings scholarship and reaching out to an ever larger audience.”
