Low Illustration Collection

One of the most unique and exceptional aspects of the NBMAA’s permanent collection of over 8,000 artworks is The Sanford B.D. Low Illustration Collection, named in memory of the Museum’s first director.

Conceived in 1965, the collection was founded by well-known illustrators Stevan Dohanos, Robert Fawcett, Howard Munce, Arthur William Brown, Henry Pitz, and Walt Reed, who established the Sanford B.D. Low Memorial Illustration Committee. Carrying on Low’s desire to preserve and promote the great art of illustration, the Committee invited America’s preeminent illustrators to donate their work to the Museum. Today, the collection comprises nearly 1,800 works, making it one of the nation’s three largest.

Many of these works were published in noted magazines ranging from "Colliers" and "Cosmopolitan" to "Saturday Evening Post" and "Ladies Home Journal." Using media that ranged from ink, pencil and charcoal to watercolor, tempera and oil, each artist created an image designed to heighten and support the story being illustrated.